


More Than You Could Ever Know

by Eicartgeorge



Series: 25 Days of Stydia Christmas [25]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Christmas, F/M, Past Lydia Martin/Stiles Stilinski, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-02-08 05:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12857859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eicartgeorge/pseuds/Eicartgeorge
Summary: Lydia is going back to Beacon Hills for her best friends' (Allison and Scott) wedding. One thing she definitely isn't looking forward to is running into her ex-fiance, Stiles...who she may or may not still have feelings for after all this time.Title comes from "All I Want for Christmas is You"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lizzy2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizzy2/gifts).



> So first off, this is going to be two chapters long because I didn't get a chance to finish what I wanted to, but it's still a pretty good size.
> 
> Secondly, but most importantly, I need to take this time to thank Lizzy2/lizzyberry28. 
> 
> Lizzy,  
> I can't believe I was able to post 25 stories in 25 days, and it's all thanks to you! Thank you for giving me ideas, encouraging me when I thought I'd bit off more than I could chew, calming me down during my [nightly] freak outs, staying up (or attempting to) until all hours of the night while I wrote, helping me come up with titles, and proofreading most - if not all- of these 25 stories. I honestly could not have done this without you, and words could never express how much I've appreciated your help. That's why this story is gifted to you! Merry Christmas!!
> 
> And Merry Christmas to all of you! Let me know which story was your favorite in this series! I'm very curious. I may post a poll when I post the last chapter.

“I’m so excited for you to get here! I haven’t seen you in forever!” Allison squealed into the phone.

“I’m excited to see you too,” Lydia told her as she rolled another shirt and placed it in her suitcase.

“Scott’s really excited too.”

“Can we please stop using the word ‘excited’?” Lydia said with an eyeroll.

“Ecstatic. Is that a good enough word for you?”

“Eh…” she shrugged. “I guess it’ll do.”

Allison giggled. “I have so much planned. You’re going to be busy for the first week and a half of your vacation.”

“I still don’t understand the appeal of getting married two days after Christmas.”

“Whatever, Miss June Wedding.” Lydia took a deep breath, and she could actually feel Allison cringing over the phone. “Sorry,” she apologized. “That’s not a sign of things to come. I promise.”

“It’s bad enough that Stiles is going to be there. I don’t need to constantly be reminded of my-“

“Inability to show up to your own wedding?” Allison offered.

Lydia groaned. “I was going to say of my failed engagement, but I guess yours works too.”

“I won’t say anything else about it. Promise.”

“Why do I feel like that’s not going to last very long?”

“Because I’m your best friend.”

“Yeah…yeah…” Lydia threw the last item into her suitcase and zipped it up.

“Oh! I know you don’t want to see Stiles, but I can’t wait for you to meet Kynzi!” She said happily.

Lydia sighed and unintentionally began to tune Allison out. It happened every time Allison brought up this Kynzi girl. From what Lydia understood, Kynzi was Stiles's newest girlfriend and Allison was practically obsessed with her. To be honest, Lydia felt a little bad for the girl. Several years after she and Stiles had called it quits, Stiles got married to a woman named Malia, who'd passed away a few years ago. Then it seemed like all of a sudden he was with Kynzi. She had to have been somewhat of a rebound...but then they seemed to have been together for awhile...maybe they were serious...oh God...what if he had planned some New Year's Eve engagement...Lydia already felt her stomach twist into knots.

 

* * *

 

On the plane, Lydia downed several glasses of champagne to calm her nerves. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Stiles in years. She always knew that when Allison and Scott finally tied the knot she would have to face him again, and even though they had the longest engagement ever, the time seemed to sneak up on her.

 

“Lydia!” She heard her mother’s voice as she walked into the airport.

 

“Mom!” Lydia ran up to her and hugged her. It had been quite some time since she’d seen her own mother, and even longer since she’d been in Beacon Hills.

 

“There’s a party at Melissa’s house tonight,” Natalie told her daughter as they began to walk away.

 

“Oh?” She felt her heart begin to beat quickly.

 

“Yeah, Allison and Scott are there now.”

 

“So, we’re going there right now?” Lydia asked.

 

“That was my plan. Originally it was supposed to be a surprise, but I figured you’d want to know.”

 

“Thanks. Although I was hoping to get a shower first. Am I even dressed enough for this party?”

 

Natalie looked her daughter up and down and smiled. “You look beautiful sweetie.”

 

Lydia rolled her eyes. She'd never get a straight answer out of her mother. She would just have to deal with what she had on and hope for the best.

 

When they got to Melissa’s house, there were already a ton of cars in the driveway.

 

As Lydia walked up to the door, it opened and Allison nearly attacked her.

 

“Oh my God! You’re here!” she screamed. Lydia smiled and, for a moment, forgot about Stiles and everything between them. “Come inside! Scott can’t wait to see you either!”

 

The party was in full swing and Lydia was sipping on her second glass of spiked eggnog. She’d already circled the room twice and hadn’t seen Stiles. She just knew he’d show up when she least expected it and throw her off her game.

 

Allison came up behind her. “Hey.”

 

“Where’s Stiles?” Lydia blurted, then blushed. “Sorry, I’ve just…I’ve been dreading this all night.”

 

Allison giggled. “I didn’t realize that’s what you were looking for. He’s not going to be here until tomorrow.”

 

“What?! I thought we were both coming in today.”

 

“Something came up last minute. He had to change their flight and everything.”

 

Lydia took a deep breath. “Oh.” Suddenly she felt very relaxed, of course maybe that was the alcohol finally kicking in.

 

* * *

 

When the party was over, Allison took Lydia back to her place. She had a week to spend with her mom after the wedding, but until then, Lydia had a lot of Maid of Honor duties to catch up on.

 

“Okay,” Allison began as she sat down at the kitchen table and opened a book, “let me show you what we've decided on.” She flipped through the pages, pointing out the flowers and decorations that they had ordered. “Oh and tomorrow is going to be busy.”

 

“You already told me that my first week and half was going to be busy so I came prepared. Just give me a run down of what needs to be done.”

 

“Well, tomorrow, we both have to pick up our dresses. I gave them the measurements you sent me, but God knows what it looks like. If we need any last minute alterations, tomorrow would be the last day we could do it. Then we have a cake tasting to go to-”

 

“Cutting it a little close on the cake, aren't you?”

 

“I wanted you to be there with me!” Allison practically whined.

 

“I mean, isn't that normally something that you do with the groom? I mean, Stiles and I-” Lydia cut herself off, and Allison gave her a look that said 'You said it, not me.'

 

“Stiles loves cake. _I'm_ marrying a weirdo.”

 

Lydia sighed. “Fair enough. Speaking of the weirdo...Where is Scott? Don't you guys live together?”

 

“He's spending this week with his mom and the Sheriff. The house is going to be Bridesmaid Central. Scott isn't allowed to step foot in here again until we get back from the honeymoon... well... except for tomorrow.”

 

“What happens tomorrow?”

 

“We're having our holiday party. We'll have to come back here after the tasting and make sure everything is set up.”

 

Lydia nodded. “When are the other bridesmaids getting here?”

 

“They're all local. You were the only one coming from out of town. They'll come over for the bachelorette party and then they'll stay over after the rehearsal dinner so we'll all be together to get ready for the wedding.”

 

“They aren't coming tomorrow?”

 

“One of them is. Erica. I know her from work. Everybody else had plans.”

 

“Speaking of plans, what else is on the agenda?”

 

“Right. Well, that covers the 19th. The 20th we have to pick up the tuxes.”

 

“Why can't Scott do that?”

 

“He's got to work from now until Christmas. He goes to work before the shop opens and gets off after it closes. It has to be me. And since you're my maid of honor, you're coming too.”

 

“Whatever you say. You're the bride. What else?”

 

“Well, the 21st is Scott's bachelor party and my bridal shower. That's also the day I need to call the caterer and give them the final numbers for meals. The 22nd is my bachelorette party, that you still need to plan by the way.”

 

“I've got it covered.”

 

Allison shook her head. She'd heard more convincing lies. “Anyway, the 23rd is the annual Christmas Eve Ball-”

 

“But the 24th is Christmas Eve.”

 

“Yeah...they stopped having it on Christmas Eve a few years back because attendance went down.”

 

“Then why don't they start calling it the Christmas Eve Eve Ball?”

 

“They tried, it just got shortened to Christmas Eve.”

 

Lydia laughed and shook her head. “This town is so weird.”

 

“Tell me about it. But, that's also the last day everything is open before the rehearsal dinner, so we have to call and confirm everything that day, then your mom is throwing a Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas day is being spent at Melissa's, then the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner are on the 26th, and the wedding is on the 27th.”

 

“Wow... you were right... I _am_ going to be busy.”

 

* * *

 

The girls got up early the next day and went to the bridal shop. Lydia's dress would need to be hemmed slightly because her heels weren't going to be as high as she originally thought they would be, but Allison's dress was ready to take home. They would just have to pick up Lydia's dress on the 23rd before the ball. Lydia made a mental note...Allison pulled out a planner and physically wrote it down.

 

Then there was the cake tasting, where they decided on a strawberry cake with a cream cheese icing.

 

“What about people who are allergic to strawberries?” Lydia had asked.

 

“Screw them! It's not their wedding!” Allison had replied... and she was only halfway joking (she really liked the cake).

 

Now, Lydia stood in the middle of Allison’s living room with a cup of cider. Unlike Melissa’s party the night before, she didn’t really know anybody here. Most of these people were Allison and Scott’s work friends.

 

Suddenly, somebody bumped into Lydia from behind and she lost her balance, falling into somebody else, and spilling her cider.

 

“Oh, my God!” she exclaimed, apologizing before she even looked up. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry, someone ran into me and I-“

 

“Lydia?”

 

Lydia finally looked up and saw who she had bumped into.

 

“Stiles?” Neither of them moved or said anything for a good minute or so. Finally, Lydia said, “You should probably get some napkins or something so your shirt doesn’t stain.”

 

“It’ll be fine,” he told her.

 

Lydia suddenly realized she had no control over the words that were coming out of her mouth when she asked, “Where’s Kynzi?”

 

Stiles looked shocked for a moment, as if he didn’t realize Lydia knew about Kynzi. “She’s around here somewhere. Allison kidnapped her as soon as we walked in.”

 

“Yeah, Allison speaks very highly of her.”

 

Stiles chuckled. Then looked up, just over Lydia’s shoulder.

 

“Oh, there she is.”

 

Lydia watched the way Stiles stared at the girl behind her. He used to stare at her like that, pure love in his eyes.

 

Suddenly, Lydia saw tiny arms reach out to Stiles and he took a little girl from Allison.

 

“Daddy, Aunt Allison let me put on her makeup! See!” she said, then puckered her lips.

 

“She did, did she?” Stiles shot Allison a glare and the brunette just shrugged.

 

“It’s just lip gloss.”

 

“She’s four!”

 

“She’ll be fine,” Allison waved a hand in front of her face.

 

Lydia was silently trying to understand what was happening in front of her.

 

“Kynzi, this is Lydia,” Stiles introduced her. “Lydia, this is my daughter, McKynzi.”

 

“Hi!” the little girl said.

 

“Hi.” Lydia smiled, suddenly feeling extremely stupid. “Umm, Allison… somebody bumped into me and I spilled cider all over Stiles, will you help me get some napkins?”

 

“Oh, I'm sure he'll-” Allison began, but Lydia cut her off.

 

“Now.” The strawberry-blonde grabbed her best friend's hand and led her into the kitchen. “Oh my God!” Lydia said as she let go of Allison's hand and rubbed her temples.

 

“Seeing him again wasn't that bad, right-”

 

“He has a _daughter_?!”

 

Allison furrowed her brow. “Of course he does...I've told you about Kynzi.”

 

“I thought Kynzi was his girlfriend!”

 

Allison's eyes widened, as she tried not to laugh, “What?! Seriously? How is that possible?”

 

“I don't know... I tend to start zoning out when you start talking about him. I don't want to know that he's living some great life without me.”

 

Allison sighed. She understood where Lydia was coming from. She shook her head. “I told you she was going to be the flower girl.”

 

Lydia rolled her eyes. “I though you meant she was the florist.” She groaned. “Okay, you need to give me all the details, because I just told him that I had heard a lot about her...although...you telling me about one of her drawings last month is starting to make a lot more sense. I just assumed she was an amateur artist.”

 

Allison laughed and took a deep breath. “Okay, well, she's four, her name's McKynzi-”

 

“Okay, how about you tell me something that I didn't just find out. Like, who's her mom? Why does Stiles have custody...or does he?”

 

Allison, looked at Lydia with confusion...she had to have figured it out. “Lydia...her mom was Malia. She's with Stiles, because he's literally the only living parent she's got.”

 

Lydia took a deep breath as she processed that. “You mean...he's raised her by himself this whole time?”

 

Allison nodded sadly. “Yeah...Stiles and Malia moved to Washington. She found out she was sick and pregnant around the same time. She couldn't get treatment without hurting the baby, and if she stayed pregnant, there was a possibility she could get treatment after she gave birth... but if she didn't stay pregnant and got treatment instead, there was a chance she'd never be able to have kids again. She knew Stiles wanted kids, so she decided to keep the baby, and she didn't tell him she was sick. She got worse and finally had to tell him what was going on. When he asked her why she chose the baby over herself, she said that she knew she'd always loved him more than he loved her. He felt so...ashamed...that he kept McKynzi a secret for two years.”

 

“That's...terrible! Why wouldn't she tell him? Why would she just make that decision for him?”

 

“Says the girl who left him the day before your wedding so that he wouldn't have to decided on taking his dream job, or giving it up so you could have yours.”

 

Lydia's eyes widened. “That...is completely different.”

 

“How so?”

 

“My decision didn't leave him with a tiny human to raise on his own.”

 

“Technically...it did.”

 

“What?” Lydia asked, her face dropping.

 

“If you hadn't left him, then the only tiny humans running around would be yours. Your decision is what led him to Malia in the first place.”

 

“Oh my God,” Lydia mumbled before leaning on the counter and tried to breathe deeply.

 

“Lydia, are you okay?”

 

“I...I'm going to go lay down. I don't feel well.” Lydia walked away, making a beeline for the guest room she was staying in. She made sure to lock the door behind her. She didn't want anybody coming to check on her. She realized she was decidedly done for the night when she started putting her pajamas on. When she climbed into bed, she clutched her pillow and sobbed silently into it.

 

She cried because for the first time she was seeing the consequences of her actions, the actions she'd made out of love.

 

She cried because her heart broke for the boy she fell in love with a long time ago, for all of the pain he had endured.

 

She cried because she realized after all these years, she still loved him, but the look he gave her told her he didn't feel the same. And that's what hurt most of all.

 

* * *

 

“Are you feeling better?” Allison asked Lydia as they drove to the tuxedo shop.

 

“Yeah,” Lydia told her. And it wasn't a lie. She did feel better. Sometimes all you need is a good cry. “A lot better, actually.”

 

“Well that's good. I'm glad.”

 

Lydia was looking at her phone when they walked into the shop, but the excited “Aunt Allison!” that she heard had her head snapping up.

 

Kynzi was running out of a dressing room, and Stiles was following close behind.

 

“St-Stiles,” Lydia stuttered, as her gaze lingered. He looked _nice_. She didn't really get a chance to admire him the night before, but then again, he wasn't wearing a tux then either. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Had to make sure the tux fit. Just waiting for the tailor to come back.”

 

A salesperson approached Allison asking her how she could be assisted.

 

“Picking up for McCall.”

 

“Follow me back,” the salesperson motioned.

 

“Daddy, can I go with Aunt Allison?”

 

“Only, if it's okay with her,” Stiles sighed as he adjusted the suit jacket he was wearing.

 

“Yeah, come on Kynz. I need some big girl muscles to help me carry all of these.”

 

“Okay!”

 

Once Kynzi and Allison had disappeared to the back, Stiles groaned as he adjusted the jacket again.

 

“What's wrong with this thing? I feel like the jacket's uneven.”

 

“It's not the jacket,” Lydia said out loud, without realizing she had. Stiles looked at her face in the mirror.

 

“It's not?” he asked.

 

Lydia shook her head. “No, it's...” she motioned to her own neck. “It's the bowtie.” Stiles attempted to fix it, but he was only making it worse. “Stiles, stop.. Just.. let me do it.” She rolled her eyes and marched over to him and began to untie and retie the bowtie. “There,” she said when she was done and took a step back to admire her work. Her eyes traveled up her ex-fiance's body before landing on his face, and they locked eyes. They were silent for a moment before Lydia finally cleared her throat and they both looked away. “Did you ever get the cider stain out?”

 

“Well...I was wearing a black shirt and the cider was sort of an off white. It didn't really stain...”

 

“Oh...right...”

 

“Allison said you weren't feeling well.”

 

Lydia shook her head. “I wasn't. At all.”

 

“But you're okay now?”

 

She nodded. “Yeah. I'm good. Great even. Back to 100%.”

 

“Well, that's good.”

 

“Yeah...” An awkward silence settled between the two before Lydia finally broke it. “So, Allison and Scott. Can you believe they're finally getting married?”

 

“I know, right? They've been engaged for what? Like 10 years?”

 

“They were engaged before we were.” She said it without thinking, and her stomach dropped in worry over how Stiles would react.

 

But he only chuckled and nodded. “Yeah.”

 

There were so many things that she wanted to say to him, but she couldn't decide on what should be first. When she finally figured it out, she opened her mouth, but Allison spoke instead. “Alright, we've got everything...Ooo! Stiles! Looking sharp!”

 

“Bye, Allison,” Stiles said, then turned to looked at the strawberry-blonde. “Bye, Lyds.”

 

“Bye Stiles,” Lydia whispered back.

 

* * *

 

“So, what did you and Stiles talk about?” Allison asked Lydia when they got back into the car.

 

“You and Scott. How you were finally getting married.” Allison nodded in response, and Lydia took a deep breath. “I mentioned that you were engaged before we were…and he didn’t act like it was an awkward conversation.”

 

“Well…maybe he got over it… I mean, think about it.. a lot of shit has happened to him since you left. He joined the FBI, he found love again, got married, had a kid, lost his wife…I mean…” She sighed. “I’m not trying to make you feel bad, but…he was the one who got left. He was the one whose phone calls were being ignored. He was the one who was forced to move on.”

 

“I thought you weren’t trying to make me feel bad.”

 

“Well…sometimes the truth hurts.”

 

* * *

 

After leaving the tux shop, the girls when last minute shopping for finger foods for the Bridal shower the following day, and they got up early to get everything in order.

 

“Okay,” Lydia announced. “I’ve got a list of games to play and I found a notebook to write down who gets you what.”

 

“Great.” Allison smiled, then bit her lip. “Hey, Lydia…I wanted to apologize about yesterday.”

 

“What do you mean?” the strawberry blonde asked, with sincere confusion.

 

“I mean, for saying that stuff about how you left him and…”

 

“It’s fine, Allison,” Lydia smiled. “Maybe I needed to hear it.”

 

As people started showing up to the shower, Lydia was answering the door so that Allison could continue her conversations with her guests. When she answered the door for Melissa though, she was surprised to see a familiar four year old on her hip.

 

“Hey…” Lydia smiled, but there was a hint of confusion in her voice.

 

“Hey, Lydia!” Melissa greeted happily and gave her a hug. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to you at the party the other day. Did you have fun?”

 

“Yeah!” Lydia ushered the woman inside. “So, I see you brought a plus one.”

 

“Yeah, the boys are having Scott’s bachelor party, so I took her with me, and we’re making a girl’s day of it.”

 

Everything began to click in place for Lydia as she followed Melissa and Kynzi further into the house. Melissa and the Sheriff had gotten married a few years back, meaning that Kynzi was Melissa’s step-granddaughter- a thought that hadn’t occurred to Lydia before. She’d been so busy trying to wrap her mind around that fact that her ex-fiance had a daughter, she hadn’t thought about how the little girl was related to everyone else. And now, Lydia realized that calling Allison ‘Aunt Allison’ wasn’t just an endearing thing because she was close to the family. Allison was literally about to become Kynzi’s aunt, because Scott was her uncle.

 

“I’m an idiot.” Lydia mumbled as she plopped down next to Allison.

 

Allison looked over and raised an eyebrow. “Um…okay?”

 

Lydia just shook her head.

 

* * *

 

Over at Scott’s bachelor party, it was still just Scott and Stiles.

 

“So,” Scott began, but didn’t continue.

 

“So?”

 

“So…have you seen Lydia?”

 

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Yes. I’ve had two whole conversations with her.” Sarcasm was evident in his response.

 

“Yeah? How was it?”

 

“Well, one of them had her spilling cider on me, so…”

 

“So, better than expected?”

 

Stiles laughed. “Yeah.”

 

“What’d she say about Kynzi?”

 

He sighed. “I don’t know… She acted like she knew about her, but when she saw her, she seemed really confused. But then again, Lydia’s never been super comfortable around kids anyway.

 

They heard a knock on the door and the Sheriff announced that he would get it.

 

“Well, maybe she’ll warm up to her.”

 

“Why does it matter?” Stiles shrugged.

 

“Well I mean…if you and Lydia were ever going to...you know…”

 

“What? Get back together? You think Lydia and I could ever get back together?”

 

“I think it could happen.”

 

Stiles sighed. “Scott.. buddy… do we not remember how she left me the day before our wedding? I’m pretty sure that was a hard pass on us ever getting back together.”

 

“Alright!” Isaac yelled as he walked into the room. “Who’s ready for strippers?”

 

“There are no strippers.” Stiles rolled his eyes.

 

“Right, no strippers.” _Wink._

 

Scott furrowed his brow and looked at Stiles, who was shaking his head. “No, Isaac. There aren’t going to be strippers. Please tell me you didn’t hire strippers.”

 

“I didn’t hire any strippers.” _Wink._

 

“No, st-stop winking. Why are you doing that? What’s wrong with your eye? There’s not going to be any strippers.”

 

“Got it. No strippers.” _Wink._

 

“Motherfucker, if you wink one more time, I swear to God, I'll-.”

 

Scott placed a hand on Stiles shoulder. “Don’t let him get to you, Dude.”

 

* * *

 

Lydia was sitting extremely still. Melissa had sat down next to her, and then put Kynzi between the two of them. Now, Lydia didn’t know how to act with the four year old leaning against her.

 

Allison leaned over to whisper in her ear, “Relax. You look constipated.”

 

Lydia turned back to her. “She’s just leaning against me. I don’t know what to do.”

 

Allison looked over. “She likes you. She doesn’t cozy up to everyone like that.”

 

“Really?” she asked as she relaxed slightly.

 

“Yeah,” Allison smiled, then spoke to the rest of the group. “Alright, for this game we’re going to break into teams of two or three and you guys are all going to answer questions about me and Scott.” Allison began to pass out pieces of paper with a list of questions on it. “Whichever team answers the most questions correctly wins!”

 

Lydia felt a tiny finger poke her arm and she looked down at the four year old. “Can I be on your team?” She asked.

 

“Uh…sure.” She smiled the best she could muster, and Kynzi took this opportunity to climb into Lydia’s lap. Lydia knew the little girl wasn’t going to be much help, but that didn’t matter because Lydia knew that she would know most of the answers anyway after knowing the couple for so long.

 

Allison finished passing out the papers and started a timer. When Allison said to start, Lydia flipped it over and began scanning the questions and answering them silently.

 

“Can you please read them out loud?” the little girl asked.

 

“Uh…yeah…What high school did Allison and Scott graduate from?”

 

Lydia began to write the answer as Kynzi turned around and whispered, “Beacon Hills High School.”

 

“That’s..right.” Lydia said somewhat surprised.

 

Kynzi smiled…almost devilishly? “We’re gonna win.”

 

As Lydia went through, there were a few that Kynzi didn’t know but Lydia did, so it didn’t matter. That was until she got to the last question.

 

“What was the-“ Lydia stopped.

 

“What? What is it?”

 

“Um..what was the month and day that Allison and Scott engaged? Oh God… I can’t remember. They’ve been engaged for forever, I-“

 

“July 3rd,” she heard a whisper.

 

“What?” Lydia looked down at Kynzi.

 

“That’s the day they got engaged. They said it was on my birthday. And my birthday is July 3rd.”

 

“Are you sure?” Kynzi nodded her head vehemently.

 

Lydia took a deep breath and wrote “July 3rd.” She was a little nervous, because she was very competitive, but figured that she didn’t know what else to say... so, she may as well trust someone who seemed pretty sure of herself.

 

“Alright, time’s up!” Allison announced when the timer went off. When she gave the answer to the final question as “July 3rd.” Lydia yelped , then high fived Kynzi and hugged her.

 

“We got them all right!” Lydia said as she squeezed the little girl.

 

“I can’t breathe.” Kynzi jokingly choked out.

 

“Sorry.” Lydia apologized and let her go.

 

“Well, did anybody else get them all right?” Allison asked. The rest of the room shook their heads. “Then, I guess we have our winners.” This time it was Kynzi that hugged Lydia.

 

“We won! We won!” She chanted. In fact, they won every game they played, but prizes started going to 2nd and 3rd place teams to make things fair.

 

After presents were opened, guests began to dwindle down and it was just after lunch.

 

“Alright, munchkin.” Melissa addressed the four year-old. “Ready to go?”

 

“Can’t I stay with Lydia and Aunt Allison?”

 

Melissa looked up at Allison, but it was Lydia that said “Sure!” Before looking back at Melissa, “I mean.. only if it’s okay with you…”

 

Melissa shrugged. “I’m fine with it. I need to go ahead and get started on some desserts for your mom’s Christmas Eve dinner.”

 

All three heads turned to Allison, who sighed. “I’ve still got to call the caterer, but sure.”

 

“Yes!” Kynzi said excitedly and ran away.

 

“Um…okay… am I missing something?” Lydia asked as she pointed to the hall that the little girl had just disappeared into.

 

“She and Stiles normally stay with us when they’re in town so she’s got some clothes here. She probably went to change.”

 

“Oh okay.” Lydia nodded, as she realized that she’d somehow forgotten that quickly that Kynzi was Stiles’s daughter. The whole afternoon she was just a cool four year old that, if older, Lydia could totally see herself hanging out with.

 

* * *

 

A couple of movies and a batch of cookies later, Kynzi had fallen asleep on the couch, snuggled up next to a sleeping Lydia, whose arm was wrapped around the little girl. Allison, of course, had taken a picture to document the moment. Underneath her tough exterior, Lydia Martin really was good with kids.

 

There was a knock on the door and Allison took a quick glance at the two sleepyheads on her couch before going to answer the door.

 

Stiles stood there, hair a mess, looking irritated.

 

“Hey…” Allison said slowly. “So…how was the bachelor party?”

 

“You don’t want to know.” Stiles shook his head.

 

As he turned his head back and forth, Allison saw a faint shimmer of glitter on his neck.

 

“Were there strippers?”

 

“Well, Scott made Isaac one of his groomsmen…so…what do you think?”

 

Allison tried to stifle a laugh. “Did you guys at least have fun?”

 

“For the most part. Although, Isaac had the most fun of us all. I’m pretty sure he went home with one of them.” He groaned. “I feel violated.”

 

“Well,” Allison grabbed his hand to pull him inside. “I’m going to show you something that’s going to make your night better.”

 

“Oh God…that’s what Candy said.” He groaned as he followed her.

 

“Candy?”

 

“The stripper.”

 

“Ohh…” They made it into the living room and Allison didn't say anything. She just motioned to the two girls asleep on the couch.

 

Stiles was quiet for a while, before finally whispering, “Wow…”

 

“I know! They were like the dynamic duo today.”

 

“Lydia…she’s just awkward around kids…how…?”

 

“Well, she started off super awkward, but Kynzi asked to be on her team for the games and they won every single one.”

 

“That’s my girl.”

 

Allison smirked. “Are you talking about Kynzi or Lydia?”

 

Stiles glared at her for a moment. “Kynzi.”

 

Allison nodded and smiled. “Okay. Well, I’m going to get ready for bed. Good luck, getting her up without waking up Lydia.”

 

Stiles sighed, and walked toward the couch, reaching for Lydia's arm. If he could move it, then maybe he could lift Kynzi. In her sleep, Lydia swatted at his hands and Stiles let out a small laugh as he rolled his eyes. When the first try didn't work, he decided to grab Kynzi. Maybe if Lydia felt her move, she'd just let her go.

 

No such luck. She only held on tighter, and the little girl curled up even more into Lydia's arms.

 

“Ugh, you're killing me.” Stiles grumbled. He was just tired and wanted to go to bed.

 

“Any luck?” Allison asked as she walked back out in her pajamas.

 

Stiles sighed. “Can I sleep here tonight?”

 

Allison laughed and motioned her head toward the hall. “Go on.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

Lydia jerked awake when she heard the slamming of cookware.

 

“Stiles!” Allison whispered angrily.

 

“Sorry.” he'd said, then there was a child's giggle.

 

Lydia took a moment to take in her surroundings and remember how she ended up here, then looked down to see that Kynzi wasn't on the couch anymore.

 

She had half a mind to pretend she was still asleep, but then... she really needed to get up. Tonight was Allison's bachelorette party and she still had a few phone calls to make.

 

She ambled into the kitchen to see Kynzie sitting on the counter while Stiles was at the stove.

 

“Lydia!” The little girl yelped excitedly.

 

Lydia flinched at the loud noise, before smiling genuinely. “Good morning.”

 

“My daddy's making pancakes! They're the best!”

 

“I know.” Lydia told her. “Your daddy's pancakes are my favorite.” She saw the muscles in his back tense for a moment. Wait...is that why he was making them?

 

“Really? Mine too!” No... of course not...he was making them for his daughter.

 

Lydia groaned. “Ugh, I need-”

 

“Coffee?” Stiles asked with a mug in his outstretched hand. She hadn't realized that's what he was doing. “Still black, two sugars?”

 

Lydia looked up at him and slowly took the mug. “Yeah. Thanks.” She brought the cup to lips and took a long swig before sighing. It felt familiar. It felt like...home. She smiled sadly at the realization. “Did you make the coffee too?”

 

He scoffed. “of course. Did you think I was going to let Allison make it?”

 

Lydia giggled as Allison gasped. “That was one time!”

 

“You broke our coffee pot!” Lydia told her as she laughed at the memory.

 

“It was brand new too,” Stiles pouted.

 

“I bought you guys a new one,” Allison replied. “Remem-....-ber...”

 

That was when the air grew tense, because yes...she had bought them another one...for their wedding shower.

 

“Yeah.” Stiles nodded as he flipped the pancakes onto a plate. “I remember.” He looked up at Lydia, who nodded.

 

“Yeah...I do too.”

 

Kynzi stayed quiet, but even she could tell that something was wrong.

 

* * *

 

“I knew you'd planned nothing!” Allison laughed as they sat in the VIP section of _Jungle_.

 

“I planned!” Lydia countered. “I mean, I got us VIP didn't I? I just....may not have researched very well.”

 

“Oh, come on!” Erica yelled over the music and took a shot. “Drag shows are fun! This is a perfectly normal bachelorette party.”

 

“Are you having fun at least?” Lydia asked the Bride-to-be.

 

“I'm having a blast!” Allison screamed as she downed a shot as well.

 

A couple of hours later, Lydia was beginning to regret volunteering to be the designated driver.

 

“ 'member at your ballerette party,” Allison's words were slurring and Lydia was pretty sure she was making some up too. “We wen' ah duh casseeo.”

 

“The casino. Yes.” Lydia nodded. “I remember.” Oh, Drunk Allison...she also remembered why they always made _her_ the designated driver when they went out.

 

“Oh my god!” Erica yelped. “You're married!?”

 

Lydia shook her head. “No, I-”

 

“She leff 'em duh day afore.” Allison told the group. “He..was...Harbrogen” Allison gestured wildly, but Lydia froze.

 

_Heartbroken._

 

And that's when Allison began to tell everybody about how Stiles laid in bed for days. He never called back about his job with FBI and had to reapply months later. He had to return all of the gifts that had been sent that sat in the apartment they shared, and even had to move back in with his dad and Melissa.

 

“You never told me any of that.” Lydia said, her voice shaky as tears threatened to fall.

 

“Well duh! I dinnin wan' you uh feel _bad_!”

 

Lydia nodded slowly and swallowed. “Hey, Kira?”

 

“Yeah?” Kira had driven herself, because she was running late.

 

“Um...Do you uh...” she sniffled. “Do you mind taking everyone home. I'm just not feeling too great right now, and I don't want to bring the party down.”

 

“Yeah, sure.” Kira nodded understandingly.

 

Lydia grabbed her purse and left. As she drove, she had no idea where she was going until she was in front of the house. She parked and walked up to the door and knocked. She felt like she was standing there forever before the door finally opened.

 

“Lydia?”

 

“Hey, Mom.”

 

 

* * *

 

When Lydia woke up the next day her head was pounding, it wasn't because of alcohol though, (as much as she wished her mom would let her open that bottle of wine). It was because of the crying she did the night before. She'd been home for less than a week and had already cried herself to sleep twice.

 

Over the same reason. The same person.

 

Her mom had several theories. One was that Lydia felt guilty and she had never apologized to or received forgiveness from Stiles. Another theory was that she was still in love with him. “Either way,” her mother had told her, “You should talk to Stiles.”

 

Lydia knew that...she didn't need her mother to tell her. But then...there were plenty of other things she'd rather do than have that conversation with him...like step barefoot on broken glass...or stick a needle in her eye.

 

She looked at her phone and had a few missed calls from Allison. Lydia had decided last night she wasn't going to be mad at her best friend for any amount of time over this. The only person she was allowed to be mad at was herself.

 

“Lydia! Oh my God, are you okay?” Allison asked frantically instead of saying 'hello.'

 

“I'm fine. I just stayed at mom's house.”

 

“Kira told me what I said, and I am so sorry! I-”

 

“Allison, it's okay. You don't have to apologize. But...why didn't you tell me he didn't take the job the first time around? That was the reason I left. Now it all feels like it was for nothing.”

 

“That was before you told me why you left, and every time I tried to talk about him, you just changed the subject or hung up.”

 

Lydia sighed. “Why do I feel like I made a huge mistake?”

 

“You didn't think you made a mistake before?”

 

“No! I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was doing what was best for both of us. It turns out it wasn't the best for anybody.”

 

“Okay, I'm going to your mom's house right now, I'm picking you up, and after we get your dress, we are going to go get our nails and hair done, and we are going to look like beautiful princesses at the Christmas Eve Ball tonight.”

 

“You mean the Christmas Eve Eve Ball.”

 

“Yeah, whatever.”

 

* * *

 

And they did. Hanging out with Allison made her feel 100 times better, and she didn't think about Stiles at all...not until he was standing in front of her in his suit.

 

Lydia and Allison were seated at a table, and Scott and Stiles had just arrived. Allison stood up to greet her fiance with a kiss, while Lydia and her ex-fiance averted their eyes. When Allison and Scott sat back down, they did it in such a way that Stiles was forced to sit next to Lydia.

 

Those sneaky bastards.

 

Lydia grabbed the champagne glass and gulped it down in one go.

 

“Thirsty?” Stiles asked knowingly.

 

“Parched.”

 

It was a masquerade ball, and the organizers provided the masks. Each table had several to choose from and the friends took this time to decide which one they'd each be wearing for the night. Allison chose one with lots of feathers, Lydia chose one with lots of glitter, and Stiles and Scott each chose ones that were sleek and polished.

 

And hour later, and Lydia wasn't enjoying herself.

 

Scott and Allison had left the table awhile ago (to do God knows what) and Stiles had been uncharacteristically quiet.

 

“Do you want to dance?”

 

Lydia's head popped up and she looked at him, wide-eyed. “What'd you say?”

 

He took a deep breath and stood up, holding out his hand. “Dance with me.”

 

She gulped before nodding and taking his hand as he led her out onto the dance floor.

 

“So,” he said after they found their rhythm. “This isn't that bad, right?”

 

“What?” she asked, obviously distracted.

 

He sighed. “Lydia, it's just me.”

 

“I know,” she nodded.

 

“Then, relax.”

 

She realized she'd been tensing up and slowly released the tension in her body, trying to imagine how it used to be. Before she'd fucked it all up.

 

“There, that's better,” he told her.

 

Lydia bit her lip as she tried to stop the tears that were threatening to ruin her holiday for the third time this week.

 

“Hey, are you okay?”

 

“Hm? Yeah. I'm fine.”

 

“Lydia...you don't....you don't seem fine. Is everything okay?”

 

“Yeah,” she said as she shook her head 'no.'

 

“Wait..was that a yes or a no?”

 

She shook her head again. “I'm fine,” she said before letting out a sob. She covered her mouth quickly, but Stiles stepped away from her.

 

“Okay, you're not fine. What's wrong?”

 

She shook her head again, no longer able to say any words for fear that everything would be unleashed, like a dam breaking.

 

“Hey, come here.” He grabbed her wrist and led her out into the lobby where there was no music and far fewer people.

 

Lydia flung the mask off of her face as she tried to regain control of her breathing.

 

“Lydia, talk to me. Are you okay? Do you need water?”

 

“Stop it!” She finally yelled as she spun on her heels to face him. Stiles flinched as if he'd just been hit. “Just stop! Stop being nice to me!”

 

Stiles shook his head slowly. “Oh, believe me. You don't want me to do that.”

 

“Yes I do! I deserve it! I was...terrible, and selfish, and you're still being nice! You made pancakes!” Tears began streaming down her face. “And coffee!” she sobbed. “And you asked me to dance, and now you're offering me water! You should be yelling at me!”

 

“I don't want to yell at you, Lydia. I don't need to. I'm over it.”

 

“There's no way you're over it, because _I'm_ not over it, so how can you be?”

 

“Because I've moved on!” he snapped.

 

Lydia blinked. “Bullshit.”

 

“You think it's bullshit? You know what I think is bullshit? Bullshit is calling you 27 times on the night of our _wedding rehearsal_ terrified that you were in a ditch somewhere only to find an 'I'm Sorry' note at home! Bullshit is having to tell all of our friends and family that we decided to call off the wedding. Bullshit...” Tears rimmed his eyes as he continued, and Lydia only stood there, sobbing, taking it all. “Bullshit is finally finding someone that I could spend the rest of my life with after all of that and watching her die knowing that I could never love her as deeply as she loved me, because the love of my life ripped my heart out and stomped it to shreds without even saying goodbye.” He sniffed, and now the tears weren't stopping. “You never said goodbye, Lydia... You just said you were sorry, and then you were gone.”

 

“I am... I am sorry.”

 

He scoffed. “Now _that's_ bullshit. You know...I never even got an explanation. Why?” Lydia shook her head. “No, tell me! I deserve at least that much, right?”

 

She folded her arms and sniffed a few times, before finally saying. “I got a job in New York.”

 

Stiles blinked as if he wasn't quite understanding. “What?”

 

“I got a job in-”

 

“New York.. I heard you. And you just thought...what? That I wouldn't support you?”

 

“No... I knew you would. That was the problem. Because you just got into training, and I... I knew that you would give it up for me, and I didn't...” Lydia's tears came back ten-fold and she covered her face until she was able to speak again. “It was my dream job. And I knew you would never let me give it up for you. So I gave you up.”

 

“What...the fuck? Lydia, what the actual fuck? What part of you thought that leaving was the best option? Why the fuck wouldn't you talk to me?”

 

“Because I knew what you'd say! You'd put off your dream job so that I could have mine, and that wasn't okay with me. I just... I didn't know until last night that you declined and had to reapply. If I had then-”

 

“Then what? You would have come back?”

 

“I don't know...maybe?”

 

“What makes you think I would have taken you back?”

 

Lydia blinked. “I.... I just...”

 

“What? Did you think that just because I was in love with you for years, it would negate the fact that you broke my heart? That I would just...forget about that?”

 

“I..I don't know...”

 

Stiles shook his head. “You know...you said you were sorry, but I don't think I can forgive you. I thought I could. I thought that I'd moved past all that, that I'd lost so much I would able to appreciate life and not take moments like this for granted. But I guess not, because looking at you , standing right here...right now...I can't forgive you. I just...I can't.”

 

Stiles turned around and began to walk away. Anger bubbled up inside of her and in what was definitely not her proudest moment, she yelled, “Yeah? Well, fuck you! It's not like I saddled you with a kid right before I died!”

It had slipped out.

 

Stiles whirled around, eyes ablaze. “What the fuck did you just say?”

 

Lydia closed her eyes and pursed her lips, as she took a deep breath. “I'm sorry. I-”

  
“You're fucking right, you're sorry!” Her eyes popped open at the roughness in his voice. She'd never in her life seen him so angry. “You have no fucking idea what you're talking about.”

  
“Sir,” an older gentleman appeared next to them. “I'm going to have to ask you to lower your voice or leave. You're disrupting the other guests.”

  
“Oh, _I'm_ disrupting the other guests? I was having a perfectly fine evening until _this_ _bitch-_ ”

  
Lydia's eyes widened, her mouth dropped, and she didn't hear the rest of his sentence. In fact, she was pretty sure she blacked out because the next thing she remembered was standing outside, Scott's arms wrapped around her from behind, and she was crying so hard she could barely breathe.

 

* * *

 

“Thanks for taking me home, Scott,” Lydia told him quietly as they sat in the driveway of her mom’s house.

  
“Of course.”

  
Lydia bit her lip that had begun to quiver, then tried to get her breathing back under control. “Would you be completely honest with me if I asked you something? No matter how much you think the truth would hurt me.”

  
Scott sighed. “I guess.”

  
“Do you think Stiles will ever forgive me?”

  
“Honestly?”

  
“Well,” Lydia rolled her eyes, “that’s sort of what I meant by being completely honest.”

  
Scott chuckled. “Right…” He sucked in a breath before continuing. “I think so. I think deep down, he already has. He just…he never got mad. After everything that he’s gone through…he never got mad. Not at you, not at Malia, not at God or the Universe. He got sad, built a wall, and got over it. For some reason, he never realized he had permission to be mad, and you finally gave it to him and it just all came out at once.” Lydia didn’t reply, she just sat there silently…listening…thinking.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter ended up really long...like a lot longer than what I intended it to be, which is why it took forever to post. So, my apologies, but I hope you enjoy it!

Stiles didn't come to Christmas Eve dinner at her mom's house, and the only reason Lydia was there was because that's where she'd slept the past couple of nights.

  


The next day, she skipped Christmas at Melissa's.

  


When Allison knocked on the front door at 3:00, Lydia was still in her pajamas.

  


“Merry Christmas!” Allison greeted with a wrapped plate of food in her hand.

  


Lydia couldn't bring herself to smile. “Merry Christmas,” she mumbled, before turning around and shuffling back to the couch.

  


“Melissa sent me with a plate of food for you,” Allison told her as she followed her inside the house and closed the door behind her.

  


“That's nice,” she muttered.

  


“Stiles-”

  


“Don't! Don't say his name. I don't want to talk about him or hear about him. I don't care if he's still upset or if he's over it. I don't care if he asked about me or can't stand the thought of me. I'm done.”

  


Allison was quiet for a moment before softly replying, “Okay.” She took a deep breath and sat down on the couch next to Lydia. “Well, can I talk about Kynzi? Because she asked about you.”

  


“She did?”

  


“Yeah. I told her you weren't feeling well and she said that she hoped you'd feel better.”

  


“That's sweet,” Lydia spoke softly, but had a small smile on her face.

  


“Yeah, I thought so.” Allison was quiet for a moment as she watched Lydia closely. “Are...are you okay?” Lydia didn't respond. “I just... I haven't talked to you since the ball, and Scott had to physically pull you out of there.”

  


“I'm fine,” she told her with tight lips. “I don't remember much of what happened anyway.”

  


“It wasn't pretty.”

  


“I just...” Lydia put her hand up. “I really don't want to talk about it.”

  


“Okay, well after you eat, we're going back to my place and we're going to curl up on the couch and watch Christmas movies until we go to sleep.”

  


Lydia cracked a smile. “Okay.”

  


 

* * *

 

  


“You've been quiet,” Scott told Stiles as he plopped onto the couch next to his step-brother. Stiles glanced over, giving Scott a look, then looked away. “Exhibit A. Dude, what's wrong?”

  


Stiles looked over and raised an eyebrow. “Are you seriously asking me that?”

  


“Yeah, I mean...I want to know how I can help you.”

  


“You can't, Scott. I'm just... I'm just angry. I'm angry that Lydia left me, I'm angry that Malia died, I'm angry at them both for doing what they did to me, and I'm angry at myself for being angry at them. Especially Malia. How can you be angry at a ghost?”

  


“What about Lydia?”

  


“What about her? I'm still pissed as fuck at her.” Scott looked around him quickly before Stiles waved a hand in front of him. “Kynzi's taking a nap. I can say what I want.”

  


Scott sighed. “Look...I know that she feels bad about what she did...and what she said. She asked me if I thought you'd ever forgive her.”

  


Stiles shook his head. “I don't even know how I'm going to look at her tomorrow, much less forgive her.”

  


* * *

  


Allison and Lydia pulled up to the church for the rehearsal. “Oh, look!” Allison said absentmindedly as she and Lydia walked to the front doors. “There's Scott's car. He and Stiles must already be here.”

  


When Allison got to the glass door, she could see in the reflection that Lydia was not following her and had stopped several feet back. “Lydia?” Allison asked, turning back to her friend.

  


She shook her head. “I can't.”

  


“What? No.” Allison began to run back to Lydia muttering, “No, no, no, no, no.” When she finally reached the strawberry-blonde, she pointed a finger at her. “Don't you do this! Don't you dare!”

  


“I can't show my face in front of him. Not after what I said.”

  


“Don't make me go all bridezilla on you, and tell you that this is not about you. This is about me, because it's my wedding and you need to suck it up and get over your issues because this is my day and you are not going to ruin it! Don't make me do that, because I will.. I'll do it!”

  


Lydia let out a small chuckle. “I think you just did....and you're right. I'm sorry.” Lydia took a deep breath. “I can do this.”

  


“Yes, you can! You're Lydia Martin! Now, let's go.” Allison grabbed Lydia's wrist and led her inside.

  


They walked inside the auditorium and Lydia's eyes were immediately drawn to Stiles, who was sitting on the front row next to Scott.

  


“We made it!” Allison announced, but Lydia barely heard it. Stiles turned his head and the two of them locked eyes. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, and (to be quite honest) she wasn't sure what _she_ was thinking either. Tons of thoughts were rattling her brain.

  


Suddenly, Lydia was nearly knocked to the ground as she felt tiny arms wrap around her legs.

  


“Lydia!” Kynzi yelped.

  


Lydia looked down and reached her hand out to touch the little girl's back. “Hey, kiddo!”

  


“Are you feeling better?” she asked.

  


“I'm feeling so much better! Thank you for asking.”

  


“You're welcome!” Kynzi grabbed Lydia's hand and led her to the bride's side of the auditorium, while the guys were on the groom's. “The girls sit here,” she proudly told Lydia.

  


“Oh, really?”

  


“Yep!”

  


“Well, okay then.” Lydia was not about to argue with the four-year-old, especially when it meant she could avoid Stiles a little longer.

  


They were still waiting for the rest of the bridal party to get there, and Kynzi took the time to catch Lydia up on all of the Christmas presents she'd received the day before. Allison was discussing a few things with the wedding planner, Jennifer Blake; while Isaac had walked in shortly after she and Allison had, and the three boys were having a conversation. Lydia was hearing her name come from the conversations around her, but she tried to focus on what Kynzi was saying.

  


Kynzi suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence and looked up. “Hi, Aunt Allison.”

  


Lydia turned around to see Allison behind her, and Scott walking away. She hadn't even noticed that he'd gotten up.

  


“Can I talk to Lydia for a second?”

  


“Okay!” Kynzi replied.

  


Allison motioned for Lydia to follow her. Lydia stood up slowly, glancing over to the boys' side to see Scott talking to Stiles.

  


“What's going on?” Lydia asked Allison once they were a little further away.

  


“Um,” Allison began slowly, “there was a mix up on the programs.”

  


“What do you mean?”

  


“You and Kynzi...your last names were swapped somehow.”

  


“Oh...” Lydia said with confusion, wondering why that was a big deal... until she remembered that Kynzi would have her _father's_ last name. “Oh! What?!”

  


Allison handed the program over slowly, and Lydia took it. Sure enough there in black and white it said:

  
  _Flower Girl- Kynzi Martin_

_Maid of Honor- Lydia Stilinski_

  


Lydia stared at the names for a moment, trying to describe how she felt.

  


“I don't know how it happened,” Allison continued. “Maybe because you both have a 'y' and 'i' in your names? It's a stupid reason, and they're going to get an earful later on...but it's too late to reprint the programs, so Jenn just went to print off inserts with the correction, and we'll have to add them to all of the programs tonight.”

  


Lydia nodded slowly. “Okay.”

  


“Are you okay?”

  


“Yeah... I mean...it's just weird... seeing it written down like that.” She shook her head quickly. “I'm good.”

  


“Okay, good!”

  


Lydia went back to sit next to Kynzi. "What did Aunt Allison say?”

  


“Apparently,” Lydia began, “they switched our last names.”

  


“Mine and yours?”

  


“Mmhmm,” Lydia nodded.

  


“What's your last name?”

  


“Martin.”

  


“McKynzi Martin?” she giggled. “That sounds funny. And then you'd be Lydia Stilinski.”

  


“That sounds funny too, doesn't it?”

  


“Hmm...” Kynzi shrugged. “I don't know. I think it sounds good.”

  


Lydia opened her mouth, but that was the precise moment that Jennifer got everyone's attention to start the rehearsal.

 

  
“Alright, I need the bridal party up on the stage,” Jennifer bellowed and everyone complied. “Girls stand to my left, and guys stand to my right,” she said as she held her arms out to direct them. “Okay, let me put the guys where they need to go first.” She turned to look at the boys. “Scott, you’re my groom, I want you on the top step. Who’s my best man?” Stiles raised his hand. “Alright, you’re on the step below him. Uh…you,” she pointed to Isaac. “You’re on the next step, which puts you,” she turned to Liam, “on the bottom.” The boys got into their line and Jennifer stepped back admire her work. “Perfect, now…” she turned to look at the girls. “Allison, you’re on the stage of course, where’s my maid of honor?”

 

“Right here,” Lydia said softly.

 

“Oh good, Lydia right?”

 

“Yeah,” she nodded.

 

“I’m sorry about the name mix up.”

 

“It’s fine,” Lydia said quickly, hoping that Jennifer wouldn’t linger on it.

 

Luckily it seemed she got the hint. “Well, I just need you right here next to the bride, and across from the best man.” Lydia stood where Jennifer was pointing, and Jennifer looked between Kira and Erica, then over to Isaac and Liam. “Okay, you’re next,” she told Erica, then put Kira on the floor across from Liam. “Alright, where’s my flower girl?”

 

“Here!” Kynzi raised her hand emphatically.

 

“Okay, now, I want you to stand right here in front of Lydia. Can you do that?”

  


“Yes!”

  


“Good! Okay, everybody look at where you're standing, look how far apart you are from the person next to you. First, we're going to practice exiting. Allison and Scott are first, just stop at the doors and turn to face me.” Jennifer looked back at the four-year-old. “Is there anybody that the flower girl can sit with?”

  


“She can sit with me,” Melissa told her.

  


“I want to stand!” Kynzi protested.

  


“Kynz, it's okay,” Lydia told the little girl. “You can stand up here next to me the whole time. But if you get tired, you can go sit with...” She paused. What did Kynzi call Melissa? Was she 'grandma'? Was she 'Ms. Melissa'? “Her,” Lydia finally ended her sentence. “Okay?”

  


“Okay,” Kynzi nodded.

  


“Alright,” Jennifer sighed. “Kynzi, you're going to follow Allison and Scott out, but I want you to wait until they're all the way out. Okay?”

  


Kynzi turned back to Lydia.

  


“I'll tell you when to go,” Lydia promised.

  


Kynzi nodded.

  


“Go ahead and practice walking back,” Jennifer told her. Kynzi began to walk toward Allison and Scott and Jennifer turned back to Stiles. “And if she doesn't stay the whole time, you're going to wait until the couple is out the door. If she does stay the whole time, you're going to wait until she's halfway up the aisle and then you're going to go. That goes for the rest of you,” she addressed the groomsmen. “You'll wait until the couple before you are half way up the aisle, then you'll walk over and get your girl, help her down the stairs and you'll walk out the doors. So,” Jennifer looked back to see where Kynzi was. “The flower girl is at the halfway mark so Best Man, come grab your girl...” Stiles reluctantly walked over to Lydia and held his arm out for her to take. She didn't look at him as she looped her arm through his.

  


“Glad you made it to the rehearsal,” he quipped quietly as Jennifer continued talking in the background. “I was wondering if it was _all_ wedding rehearsals... or just _ours_ you had a problem attending.”

  


“If it wasn't for Allison, I wouldn't be here. Jackass.”

  


There was a moment or two of silence before Stiles finally said. “Nana.”

  


“What?” Lydia turned to look at him for the first time, just now realizing how close they were.

  


“You were struggling with what to call Melissa. Kynzi calls her Nana.”

  


“Oh...thanks.”

  


And that was the last thing either of them said to each other for the rest of the rehearsal. The silence continued through the rehearsal dinner, as both seemed to agree that avoiding the other completely was the best route to take.

  


 

* * *

 

  


Stiles still caught himself staring at his ex from time to time throughout the dinner, and every time he did, he was hit with a mix of emotions. Just as one emotion would start to ring truer than the others, she'd catch his eye and he'd quickly avert his gaze.

  


When they left, he was walking with Scott behind Allison and Lydia. Kynzi had run ahead of him and grabbed their hands, and they were swinging her between the two of them. Stiles couldn't help but notice Kynzi's smile as she looked up at Lydia. He felt only one emotion course through his veins, but he was having trouble putting a name to it.

  


“You'll have to ask your dad.” Allison's voice suddenly broke through his thoughts.

  


“Can I, Daddy?” Kynzi asked as she turned around to face him.

  


“Can you what?”

  


“Can I go to Aunt Allison's tonight? All of the big girls are going over there.”

  


Stiles didn't know why his first instinct was to look up at Lydia. Maybe to gauge her reaction? She wasn't looking back, just smiling at Kynzi. He looked over to Allison, who was just patiently waiting on a response.

  


“Uh... is Aunt Allison okay with it?”

  


Allison shrugged, “I got to admit, it'll be a lot easier to have her with us for pictures. Ours are before the guys'. And I'd have to trust you guys to get her there and have her ready...and...” Allison paused when she realized she was beginning to get a little worked up, as if finally realizing everything was happening tomorrow.

  


“Then, yeah. Okay. Sure. You can stay with Aunt Allison.”

  


“Yay!” Kynzi cheered.

  


Allison nodded and took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

  


* * *

  


“Why couldn't the guys have done this!” Erica complained as they were sticking the inserts inside of all of the programs.

  


“Because,” Allison told her. “I don't trust the guys to get it done.”

  


“I finished!” Kynzi announced. “I win!”

  


“It wasn't a contest.” Erica rolled her eyes and Lydia chuckled at how easily the little girl had gotten under the older one's skin.

  


“You did win!” Lydia encouraged. “Hi five!” she held up her hand and Kynzi clapped it with her own. The others finished stuffing their programs and Kynzi helped Lydia finish hers.

  


“Who’s sleeping where?” Kira asked when she yawned a few minutes later.

  


“Can I sleep with you?” Kynzi asked Lydia as she climbed into her lap.

  


“Yeah,” Lydia smiled. “Of course.”

  


“I’ll sleep on the couch,” Erica volunteered.

 

 

“Kira,” Allison offered, “you can sleep in my bed with me.”

 

 

“Sounds good.”

 

 

“What time should we wake up?” Erica asked as she pulled out her phone to set her alarm.

 

 

“Uhh,” Allison turned to look at Lydia.

 

 

“9:00?” Lydia suggested. “We can get up and get dressed then do brunch before we have to be at the church. The stylist _is_ meeting us at the _church_ , right?”

 

 

“Yeah, at 11:30.”

 

 

“Alright, well I’m about to crash,” Erica said as she stretched.

 

 

“Same,” Kira added with droopy eyes.

 

 

“Come on, Kynz, let’s go.” Lydia tried to push the little girl up, but she’d already fallen asleep.

  


“God, she’s adorable,” Erica said.

  


“Lydia,” Allison began, “I’m being completely honest when I tell you… I’ve never seen her take to anyone so fast.”

  


“Her dad is single, right?” Erica asked.

  


“Yeah, but…” Kira began slowly, “That’s not something we should talk about.”

  


“What? Why? I mean,” Erica held up one of the programs, “Lydia Stilinski…that has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

  


“Erica,” Allison tried to warn.

  


“What? Am I missing something?”

  


Lydia finally sighed. “Her dad is my ex-fiance.”

  


Erica’s eyes widened. “Oh…he’s the one you guys were talking about at the bachelorette party, right?” Lydia nodded. “Okay….well…now all that awkward chemistry between you two makes more sense … Just…one question…do you still love him?”

 

 

Lydia was still for a moment before finally shrugging. “I’m still in love with the guy I left. I just don’t think he’s the same one that’s here now.” She stood with the little girl in her arms. “I’m going to go to bed. Goodnight.”

  


Lydia placed the sleeping four-year-old down on the bed and turned on the bedside lamp before turning off the overhead light.

  


The drowsiness she was feeling a few minutes ago was all but gone.

  


Her mind wouldn't shut up. God, she wanted to be so mad at him. After their huge blow up fight they had at the masquerade ball, she wanted to be pissed. She wanted to hate him, because maybe that would make him hating her a little less painful.

  


She just couldn't.

  


Lydia had never been able to stay mad at him for too long. After this wedding was over, she needed to clear her head. This “vacation” had been more taxing on her soul than the last 8 years of work.

  


Before she fell asleep, she quickly made a two-night reservation at the hotel where the reception was being held. She couldn't go back to Allison and Scott's anyway since they weren't going to be there for a week while they were on their honeymoon, and she wasn't going stay in her mom's house again after being holed up in there over the holiday.

  


No, this would be perfect and it would give her the relaxation that she so desperately craved.

  


 

* * *

 

  


Scott was laying in his bed. His eyes had been closed for at least 45 minutes, but he couldn't get to sleep. It wasn't because he wasn't tired, (he was actually exhausted), it was because every time he'd begin to drift, Stiles would make a noise from his bed on the other side of the room.

  


With both of their kids not living at home anymore, their parents had downsized a while back to a two bedroom. One bedroom, of course, was theirs, and the other was the guest room (which they decided to put two beds in, mainly for those times that Stiles and Kynzi would visit).

  


This week though, it was Stiles and Scott sharing a room and Kynzi had taken the couch... something that felt like a treat for the four-year-old. At this point, the couch was sounding like a treat to Scott too.

  


It didn't help the mattresses on the beds weren't that great and they would creak and squeak at the slightest movement. It made it worse that Stiles was tossing and turning and huffing and puffing every five minutes.

  


Stiles let out another sigh and Scott had finally had enough. “Fucking hell, Stiles!” he yelled as he sat up. “I'm trying to go to sleep and I can't because you're keeping me awake. What's wrong?”

  


“Sorry,” Stiles apologized. “I'll be quiet.”

  


His step-brother was laying perfectly still now, but Scott still gave him a skeptical glare before deciding Stiles was going to stick to his word. He laid back down, nestling into his pillow. Sleep was so close he could taste it...when...

  


_Squeak!_

 

  
“That's it!” Scott threw the covers off of himself and stood up.

  


“I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!” Stiles yelled quickly as he held his hands up defensively. “If you hit me and ruin your wedding pictures, Allison will kill you!” The words came out in a rush, but it was a last ditch effort to avoid being maimed by his step-brother.

  


Scott sighed. “You're right.” Then he glared. “You're lucky. Now, what the fuck is going on?”

  


Stiles took a deep breath. “It's just...Kynzi's never slept away from me before. I'm always just down the hall in case she needs me. Even the other night when she was at your place, I ended up sleeping over there.”

  


“She'll be fine,” Scott tried to assure him. “She's with Allison.”

  


“I know... but like...what if she has a bad dream? And she wakes up wanting me..and they call me, but I'm asleep so I don't hear it? Oh my God! I don't even think I told her 'goodnight'!” He groaned, “Ugh! I'm a terrible dad.”

  


“Stiles, you are anything but a terrible dad. Look, you've been mom and dad to her for basically her entire life. Honestly, man. I hope I'm half as good of a dad as you are.”

  


“Really?”

  


Scott nodded. “Yeah. Really. Now...can we go to sleep? Please?”

  


“Yeah...sure.”

  


“Thank you,” Scott told him and went back to his bed.

  


Stiles laid back and closed his eyes. His mind was suddenly clear of all the worry he was feeling, and he began to flood his thoughts with images of Kynzi and Allison together, to help keep his mind at ease. Like, how happy Kynzi was around Allison, and how she didn't even know that he had slept down the hall from her that night and she was perfectly fine sleeping on the couch with Lydia.

  


His eyes popped open, when the image of Kynzi smiling up at Lydia popped into his head, and now he was able to name the emotion from earlier in the night. It was dread.

  


Dread that his daughter was beginning to trust someone who had broken his trust a long time ago. Dread that somehow Kynzi would get hurt, and that was the last thing he wanted. As he laid in the bed, he made a vow to himself, he wouldn't allow that to happen.

  


* * *

  


“I'm getting married today!” Allison cheered as she took a sip of her second mimosa.

  


“It was a long time coming,” Lydia seconded as she raised her glass.

  


“Mmmhmm!” Kynzi nodded with a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

  


“I agree,” Erica concurred. “I mean, I haven't known you nearly as long as these two have, but I feel like you've been together forever.”

  


“They have!” Kira giggled.

  


“You know..they did win _Most Likely to Live Happily Ever After_ for our senior class superlatives.” Lydia told Erica.

  


“Yeah, but that was-” Allison stopped herself.

  


“What?” Erica asked, smiling. “What happened?”

  


Lydia gave her a small shrug, “Go ahead.”

  


Allison sighed. “Scott and I came in second.”

  


Erica nodded knowingly. “Let me guess,” she said, then turned back to Lydia, “Behind you and the ex?”

  


“We both won two categories, so they let us choose which one we wanted to keep. We decided to give the honor to Allison and Scott.”

  


“What did you win again?” Kira asked.

  


“ _Most likely to become a world leader_.”

  


“Oh yeah! I remember!” Kira nodded. “And Stiles won class clown.”

  


“Really?” Erica was surprised. “He seems so...mellow.”

  


“That's a fairly recent development,” Allison explained, before taking a deep breath and turning to Lydia. “Would it be too much to ask you guys try to remain civil today?”

  


Lydia shook her head. “No. I'll...I'll talk to him.”

  


 

* * *

 

  


It wasn't until after they were at the church that she finally had her opportunity.

  


“Oh my God!” Allison exclaimed. “I have both of the rings! Scott needs mine!”

  


“Okay,” Lydia said softly. “Calm down. I'll do it. Just give me the ring, and I'll be right back.”

  


“Thank you.” Allison sighed in relief as she handed the ring over.

  


Lydia walked around to the other side of the church until she found the guys' dressing room.

  


She took a deep breath and knocked twice before hearing, “Come in!”

  


Taking another deep breath to prepare herself, she slowly opened the door. “Hey,” she said softly, her eyes scanning the room before finally landing on the person she was looking for. “Uh...Stiles...can I borrow you for a moment?”

  


Stiles looked at Scott before finally nodding and walking towards the door, and she took a few steps back so that he could come out.

  


Words failed her as she took him in. She was fighting against every bone in her body, half of them wanting to run the other way, and the other wanting to jump him in that very moment. Finally, she held out the ring.

  


“What's that?” he asked skeptically.

  


“Allison's ring.”

  


“Her _what_?!” Panic took over his entire demeanor and Lydia quickly shook her head.

  


“No, no, no! Not her engagement ring. Her wedding ring. You're supposed to have it so that when the minister asks for the rings you can hand it over, remember?”

  


“Right..” he took a deep breath as he took the ring from her. “Sorry.”

  


“No.. It's fine.”

  


“Well...thanks.” he turned to go back inside the room before Lydia called him back.

  


“Wait!”

  


He stopped and looked back at her.

  


“Yeah?”

  


“I...I promised Allison that we'd be civil. So...can we just for today pretend that I didn't royally fuck you over, and you can go back to hating me tomorrow?”

  


Stiles sighed and rolled his eyes, “I don't hate-” he stopped suddenly, and Lydia wasn't sure if it was because he just didn't want to argue, or if he realized that he'd rather not lie in a church. (Speaking of which, she'd just dropped an F-bomb in a church...so if she wasn't already going to Hell...) He nodded, “Yeah. I can pretend.” Then he smirked to himself. “You know, I actually won a drama award in high school.”

  


“Yes,” she smiled, “I do know that.”

  


He nodded slowly. “Well, the show must go on. Break a leg.”

  


“I'll pretend you meant that in the theater way,” she joked and he only laughed and rolled his eyes before going back into the room.

  


Lydia released a huge sigh as she felt herself begin to calm down, before heading back to the girls' dressing area.

  


 

* * *

 

  


The girls and guys took pictures separately, they were given finger foods for lunch so there wouldn't be any spillage, and then it was time to line up.

  


“Daddy!” Kynzi said excitedly when she saw Stiles walking with the rest of the groomsmen toward the girls.

  


“Hey, baby girl!” His whole face lit up in a way that made Lydia' heart melt. He picked her up to give her a hug. “Did you sleep well last night?”

  


“Mmmhmm! I slept with Lydia.”

  


“You did?” He tuned to look at the strawberry-blonde.

  


“Yeah,” Lydia replied with a smile, “she was out before we even got into the bed, but apparently we cuddled all night.”

  


Stiles smiled softly before Kynzi continued, “We went to breakfast and I had eggs and I ate them all!”

  


Stiles turned back to the little girl in his arms, “Really? _All_ of them?” Kynzi nodded, and Stiles creased his forehead. “Are you wearing make-up again?”

  


Kynzi nodded again, and Lydia spoke up, “It was for the pictures, at the bride's request.”

  


“But that's not just lip gloss, that's like..actual red lipstick!”

  


“And it's the last time she'll wear it until she's like thirteen.”

  


“Sixteen.” Stiles countered quickly.

  


“You'll discuss it later,” Lydia assured him.

  


“Alright,” Jennifer came into the hallway. “I need everybody lined up, and ready to go.” Lydia looked down to make sure her red dress was smoothed out. A moment later, she looked back up and Stiles had already put Kynzi down behind them. When he turned his head Lydia gasped and covered her mouth.

  


“What?” Stiles asked as he turned back to her.

  


“Kynzi,” Lydia turned to the little girl, “Did you kiss his cheek?” The little girl smiled and nodded. “Do you remember what we said about being careful?”

  


Kynzi's eyes widened for a moment, but then she giggled.

  


“What?” Stiles wondered aloud. “What happened?”

  


“You've got red lip prints on your cheek.”

  


Stiles groaned. “Are you serious?”

  


“Hold on, I'm getting it,” she told him as she lifted her thumb to his cheek to rub the lipstick off. She hadn't realized that Stiles had frozen next to her. When the lipstick was only smearing, she wet her thumb on her tongue and went back to his cheek.

  


Stiles sighed, “Did you really just lick your thumb?”

  


“Yes, but it worked. You can thank me later.”

  


He turned his head back toward her looking at her eyes, but then glancing ever so slightly down to her lips...her hand never moving from the side of his face.

  


Suddenly, the entry music started and the two of them jumped apart.

  


“Okay, ladies. Bouquet in your left hand, and right arm looped through your groomsman's.” Jennifer announced the reminder.

  


Lydia adjusted her bouquet as Jennifer sent Liam and Kira down the aisle.

  


“You look really nice,” Stiles whispered.

  


“Really?” she looked up at him as if not believing it herself.

  


He nodded. “Yeah.” He paused for a moment, before finally adding. “Beautiful.”

  


She smiled softly, and felt herself blush. She turned away just as Jennifer sent Isaac and Erica down the aisle.

  


“Well, you look very handsome.”

  


“Thank you.”

  


“You're welcome.”

  


“Maid of Honor and Best Man, do you have the rings?” Jennifer asked.

  


Stiles pulled Allison's ring out of his pocket and Lydia held up her left hand to show her Scott's ring on her thumb.

  


“Perfect, go!”

  


Lydia smiled for the cameras as they walked down the aisle, and tried to ignore the whispers she heard.

  


“ _Didn't they used to be together?”_

  


“ _I was supposed to be at their wedding.”_

  


“ _I heard he finally got married.”_

  


“ _The flower girl must be his daughter.”_

  


“ _Is she her daughter too?”_

  


“Keep smiling,” she heard him whisper in her ear. “Don't listen to them.”

  


She realized her face had fallen slightly and she brightened her smile and whispered back, “Thanks.”

  


When they got to their spots Kynzi was already walking down the aisle, tossing rose petals as she went. She was taking her job as flower girl very seriously. The doors closed behind her to get ready for Allison's entrance.

  


“I did it!” she whispered to Lydia as she stood next to her.

  


“You did! I'm so proud of you!”

  


Kynzi smiled then looked up at Stiles and waved.

  


Stiles stifled a laugh and gave her small wave back.

  


The Bridal March started, and the entire crowd rose to their feet.

 

 

The moment Lydia saw her best friend standing at the door, the waterworks began...

  


... and they didn't end until the minister had announced them husband and wife.

  


The crowd applauded as Scott and Allison went back up the aisle, and once they were gone, Lydia tapped Kynzi on the shoulder so that she would go.

  


She hopped down the steps and began her retreat back up the aisle, and Stiles stepped up to take Lydia's arm to lead her back as well.

  


Kynzi suddenly stopped walking and turned around to run back to Stiles. He and Lydia stopped and he let her go, so that he could bend down to pick Kynzi up. He shifted the little girl to his left, so that he could link with Lydia's arm again.

  


“You did so good!” Lydia commended as they continued their walk.

  


“Thanks, Lydia!” Kynzi smiled.

  


The bridal party met in the staging area, until all of the wedding guests had filtered out so that they could take pictures of the entire bridal party and their families.

  


“Uncle Scott,” Kynzi said as she walked up to the newly married man. “You look very handsome.”

  


Scott put a hand over his heart, and gasped, “Thank you so much! Don't you think your dad looks handsome too?”

  


Kynzi turned back to look at Stiles, and smirked. “Daddy always looks handsome.”

  


The entire bridal party “awed” at her response, but then Scott thought about it. “Wait.. are you saying I don't always look handsome?”

  


Kynzi giggled, but said nothing as she skipped over to Stiles.

  


Scott looked back at Allison, “But...she didn't answer my question.”

  


“Awe, honey. It doesn't matter. You're always handsome to me.”

  


“Okay, Stiles,” Erica began. “I told the girls this last night, but your daughter is the cutest.”

  


Stiles opened his mouth to respond, but Isaac stepped between them, “Well.. I taught her everything she knows.”

  


“Really?” Erica said flirtatiously.

  


“Uh...” Stiles began, peeking around Isaac, “No... he didn't.”

  


Lydia patted his shoulder and whispered, “Uh, Stiles... I don't think she really believes him...or really cares for that matter.”

  


“What?” Stiles looked back at Lydia, who gave him a look that said 'come on man, read the signs.' Stiles looked back and noticed the body language and nodded once. “Oh... got it,” he replied before making a disgusted face.

  


“Alright!” Jennifer said as she walked back into the room. “We're good to go! Everybody can follow me back out.”

  


“Uncle Scott? Can I get a piggyback ride?” Kynzi asked.

  


“”Kynz-” Stiles started, but Scott interrupted him.

  


“Hey! If my niece wants a piggyback ride, I'm going to give her a piggyback ride.” He knelt down to the ground, “Hop on.” Kynzi was already jumping onto her uncle's back.

  


“Yeah, unless her _father_ were to tell her _no,_ ” Stiles replied. Scott and Kynzi both froze, looking like they'd both just gotten into trouble. Stiles sighed, “But, yeah. It's fine.”

  


“Yay!” Kynzi cheered as Scott stood up.

  


“Way to stand up to them,” Allison laughed as she patted her new brother-in-law on his back.

  


“Well...I figured I'd make an exception. I didn't want to embarrass him in front of his new _wife_.”

  


Allison squealed, “Can you believe I'm _married_?”

  


“I know!” Lydia smiled. “I'm so happy!”

  


“She was so happy,” Stiles began, “that she bawled through the entire ceremony.”

  


“Hey, I saw you crying too,” Lydia accused.

  


“I had something in my eye,” Stiles made up an excuse.

  


“Uh huh.”

  


“You know...like...a piece of dust..or like...a branch...” The girls shook their heads. “Okay, fine!” Stiles finally confessed, “I was crying. So sue me.”

 

 

* * *

  


Lydia sighed as she slumped down in her seat next to Stiles at the reception.

  


“Can I help you?” he asked, with a raised eyebrow.

  


“We've been here all of half an hour and I've already been approached by three different people. The first one told me how happy they were that we finally got back together, a second one told me how adorable my daughter was, and a third was upset that I didn't invite them to our wedding.”

  


“Oh my gosh! I had no idea that you two were back together!”

  


Lydia whirled around to the guest and snapped, “We're not!”

  


The woman blushed and her eyes widened, “My apologies,” she muttered and walked away.

  


“Okay,” Stiles said gently. “Do yourself a favor and take advantage of the open bar.” He held up his drink. “I've been getting 'glad you got remarried' and 'sorry your wife died' comments since we walked in.”

  


“Well, if I'm going to start drinking,” she began as she stood back up. “I should probably go check in to my room before I forget.”

  


“Room?”

  


“Yeah, I decided to take a couple of days for some _me_ time. And I figured since I'm already going to be here, I may as well just stay the night.” She shrugged. “ I'll be back.”

  


When she returned, she saw Stiles dancing with Kynzi on the dance floor.

  


“Your family is so precious,” she heard next to her.

  


Lydia didn't respond. She just sighed, and walked up to the bar. “Can I get a rum punch?” The bar tender nodded. “And can the punch be vodka?” He looked up with a crease in his brow, and Lydia explained, “It's going to be a long night.”

  


* * *

  


Scott walked up to Stiles a few hours later. “How's it going over here? I haven't gotten a chance to talk to you all night.”

  


“I'm fine,” Stiles dragged out the words.

  


“Oh God...you're drunk.”

  


“Yeah,” he nodded and sighed.

  


“Mom's going to leave soon. I'll let her know to take Kynzi until you can sober up a little.”

  


Stiles nodded. “Okay.”

  


“Maybe you and Lydia could get a coffee together? She got so wasted, Allison had to tell the bartender to stop serving her.”

  


“Is that why she was crying?”

  


Scott nodded. “Yes, and she's been at our table ever since.”

  


* * *

  


“Allison,” Lydia slurred her best friend's name.

  


“Yes, Lydia?” Allison replied.

  


“When are you thoss..soss...throwing the bouquet?”

  


“I already _tossed_ the bouquet. Erica caught it. Remember? You tried to take it from her.”

  


Lydia shook her head. “I don't think that happened.”

  


“Oh, I _know_ it did. And I'm sure we'll have video evidence soon enough.”

  


“Allison?”

  


“Yes, Lydia?”

  


“When's Scott throwing the garden?”

  


“The _garter_?”

  


“That's what I said.”

  


Allison shook her head, “Isaac already caught it...like 45 minutes ago,” she made a face, “and then he and Erica danced in such a way that Melissa had to take Kynzi out of the room.”

  


Lydia chuckled slightly, “I want to dance with Stiles like that.”

  


Allison raised her eyebrows, “Well, as entertaining as that would be...please don't. Besides, Scott and I are leaving soon.”

  


“Alright, we've got one last dance,” the DJ announced.

  


“I wanna dance,” Lydia smiled.

  


“Go have at it,” Allison waved her off, but Lydia groaned.

  


“I don't want to.”

  


“Okay, then don't.”

  


Lydia looked up at Stiles, who was talking to Scott.

  


“Allison,” a guest said as they came up to her table. “We're about to leave, but I just wanted to say congratulations! It was a beautiful ceremony and wonderful reception.”

  


“Thank you so much!” Allison beamed.

  


“Oh, and Lydia,” Lydia looked back at the woman. “I'm so happy for you that you and Stiles patched things up.”

  


“Patched things up?” Lydia gave the woman her best 'are you stupid?' look, but surprisingly kept her tone soft. “Do we look like we're fucking in love? He fucking hates me. Okay? We're just _pretending_ to fucking like each other so we don't ruin Allison's wedding.” Lydia rolled her eyes, “Dumb ass.”

  


Allison blushed, “She's had a few drinks.”

  


“You know,” Lydia continued, calm and conversational, as she turned back to Allison, “What the fuck was the point of putting those _little..._ ” she closed one eye and fumbled her fingers into making what was supposed to look like a rectangle...that turned into some sort of oblong shape.. which ultimately didn't look like anything at all, “ _little tiny_ pieces of paper in the programs...” She dropped her hands and stared at her friend, “if no one was going to fucking read it?”

  


Allison sighed, “She walked away.”

  


“Who?” Lydia asked then turned around, then back to Allison. “Was it Erica?”

  


“Erica?”

  


“She has my bouquet.”

  


Allison closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “For the last time, she doesn't have your bouquet, Lydia. She caught it fair and square.”

  


“Who are you talking to?”

  


Allison opened her eyes to see Scott, and Lydia was gone. “Where'd she go?”

  


“Who?”

  


“And speaking of Erica... where is _she_?”

  


“When were we speaking of Erica?” Scott was confused.

  


* * *

  


Lydia stumbled over to Stiles.

  


“Do you want to dance?”

  


He looked up at her. “What?”

  


She sighed and held her hand out. “We're at our best friends' wedding and I'm asking if you want to dance with me.”

  


Stiles shrugged. “You know...what the hell.” He took her hand and they walked out onto the dance floor and began to sway together, but not necessarily to the beat.

  


“You know the last time we danced, we got into a fight,” Stiles reminded her.

  


“You called me a bitch.”

  


“And then you took a swing at me.”

  


“I missed,” she shrugged. Stiles laughed and shook his head. Lydia sighed and stepped closer and put her head on his chest. “I'm so drunk.”

  


“Me too. Melissa's taking Kynzi home in a few minutes.”

  


Lydia looked up at him. “You know, since we're pretending to like each other, I just want to tell you....I'm proud of you.”

  


Stiles stopped moving, and neither of them realized that the song had ended and that Scott and Allison were getting ready to leave.

  


“What?” he asked.

  


“I'm proud of you. Look, bad things happened to you. And I'm sorry for my contribution... but you've handled everything so well and you raised a really cool little girl by yourself. I don't think I would have been able to do that. You're just so strong, and..I'm proud of you.”

  


“Thank you,” he said softly.

  


She nodded slowly, and swallowed the lump that was rising in her throat.“ I miss you,” she told him and blinked tears out of her eyes as she looked down at her feet. She heard people saying 'goodbye' and looked around to see that the ballroom had emptied out. They'd missed the send off.

  


Suddenly, she felt Stiles's finger under her chin as he raised her head to look at him again. He brushed a piece of hair out of her face, then wiped a tear away as he replied, “I miss you too.”

  


“Daddy!” Stiles and Lydia jerked away from each other as Kynzi ran back up. “Nana's taking me home.”

  


“Alright. I love you.” Stiles said as he bent down to give her a hug.

  


“I love you too!” she kissed his cheek again, then turned to the strawberry-blonde. “Goodnight, Lydia.”

  


“Night, Kynzi.” The little girl wrapped her arms around Lydia's legs. “Whoa, hey...” Kynzi let Lydia go, as if she did something wrong. “Let me get a proper hug.” Lydia knelt down and Kynzi smiled brightly as she threw her arms around Lydia's neck and Lydia hugged her tightly.

  


“McKynzi! Come on!” Melissa called.

  


“Coming, Nana!”

  


Kynzi ran off and Lydia and Stiles stood back up.

  


When Lydia looked back at Stiles, he was already staring at her, but the hint of red on his cheek caught her attention.

  


She chuckled lightly, and reached her hand up to his face. “She got you again.”

  


Lydia began to brush his cheek with her thumb, but he grabbed her hand and her eyes darted back to look at his.

  


She couldn't tell you who made the first move, but suddenly her hand was in his hair and his lips were on hers.

  


He broke away long enough to mumble against her lips, “You said something about a room?”

  


 

* * *

 

  


Lydia squinted as the sunlight shone into the room. It took a moment before memories of the night before came rushing back.

  


“Oh, fuck!” she exclaimed as she sat up in bed and looked over at Stiles, who was still asleep. “Shit!” she whisper-yelled. “Fuck!” she buried her face in her palms. “Fucking shit!”

  


“You can say that again,” she heard a mumble next to her and she winced.

  


“You're awake?” she asked as she slowly moved her hands away from her face.

  


“I am now.”

  


“Sorry.”

  


“God...my head is pounding,” Stiles grumbled.

  


Lydia nodded. “I'm gonna...go take a shower... you can go back to sleep.”

  


She wrapped the sheet around her as she walked into the bathroom. When she closed the door behind her she leaned onto the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. “God, Lydia...what did you do?” she whispered to herself before turning the water on.

  


_You did your ex fiance. That's what you did._ Her brain replied.

  


The conversation with herself continued as she took her shower. Her logical side was arguing with how irrational it had been to just jump into bed with him. They were putting on a show for the wedding guests... they weren't actually friends, or even friendly with each other. And he had a daughter! Yeah, Kynzi's a cool kid, but you can't just jump into something like that when there's a kid involved.

  


Her romantic side, on the other hand, was definitely winning out. She could still feel his fingers on her body, and his lips on her neck, and everything had felt so familiar and so right. She hadn't slept with many people since Stiles, but the sex was never as good. Maybe it was because she'd never fallen out of love with her ex.

  


She finally resolved that she should just talk about it with Stiles and get his point of view, but ultimately, she decided that she didn't regret it.

  


When she stepped out of the shower, she remembered her bag was still in her rental car.

  


“Fuck,” she groaned. Luckily, there was a bathrobe hanging on the back of the door, so she wouldn't have to put her dress back on.

  


She walked out after slipping the robe on, and saw Stiles putting his pants on.

  


“You're getting dressed?”

  


“Yeah, I need to go,” he told her.

  


“Okay...well I think we still need to talk about last night-”

  


“Last night was a mistake.”

  


That stung. “What?”

  


“We were drunk, Lydia..we did something stupid, and we should just forget it happened.”

  


Lydia's mouth hung open as she tried to process what he was telling her. “But...” she finally got out, “I don't want to forget.” Her brain was flooded with millions of thoughts, but the one that made it out was, “I...Stiles... I...I'm still in love with you.”

  


Stiles froze for a moment, before replying, “But I'm not in love with you.”

  


She didn't realize she was crying until she felt the sob escape her chest. “But...you told me you missed me.”

  


“And you told me you'd never leave me, but I guess that was a lie too.”

  


“I'm sorry! I don't know how to apologize for doing what I thought was right. If I could go back and do it differently I would!”

  


“I know,” he told her. “I know you're sorry. And you know what? I may even forgive you. But I can't put my heart on the line like that again. Not when I have Kynzi to think about. Because that's her heart too. Dammit, Lydia... she knew you for less than a week and you were all she talked about over Christmas. She already loves you and I-...I can't have you hurting her.”

  


“I love her too, Stiles! And I swear I would never hurt her!”

  


“Just like you swore you'd never hurt me.”

  


“God, can we stop _fixating_ on that? I was young and stupid! I'll apologize a million times over if that would make this right.”

  


Stiles shook his head. “You can't make this right...it's too late.”

  


Lydia bit her lip and nodded, before heading toward the door. “I'm going to my car,” she told him. As soon as she was out the door she leaned against the wall and broke down. Sobs racked her body and tears flooded her cheeks. She wasn't sure how long she was standing there, but when she heard the door across the the hall begin to open, she quickly wiped her eyes, and was met face to face with Isaac.

  


“Oh, hey Lydia,” he smirked, his tux jacket thrown over his shoulder.

  


“Hey, Isaac,” she mumbled.

  


The door opened again, and Erica stumbled out in her red bridesmaid dress, holding Allison's bouquet. Lydia quirked an eyebrow.

  


“Oh,” Isaac looked from Erica back to Lydia. “this, by the way, is _exactly_ what it looks like.”

  


“What are you doing here, Lydia?” Erica asked, blushing.

  


“I'm just staying here a couple of days as a vacation from my vacation.”

  


Isaac and Erica nodded, just as the door to Lydia's room opened, and Stiles stepped out-shirt untucked and tie draped over his shoulders. He glanced around, ignoring the shocked expressions on Erica and Isaac's face, and the fact that Lydia wasn't looking at him at all.

  


“I'm taking the stairs,” he mumbled before walking away from the group.

  


Lydia sighed. If she rode the elevator she'd have to endure 20 questions (and she was not in the mood to play that right now), and if she took the stairs, she'd have to see Stiles again (and she needed a little bit longer to get over the things he'd told her). She finally turned back to her door and realized that she never grabbed her room key.

  


“Fuck!” she yelled as she hit the door with her fist. She turned her back to the door and slid down, sobbing once more at her rotten luck.

  


She felt something in front of her and she opened her eyes to see Erica's hand holding a room key.

  


“Take this,” she told Lydia. “In case you need somewhere to hang out until everyone's gone before you let the front desk know you got locked out of your room.”

  


“Thank you,” Lydia replied as she took the room key from her.

  


“You're welcome...but the bouquet is mine.”

  


Lydia laughed through her nose. “Yeah..sorry about that.”

  


Erica smiled in acceptance of her apology, and followed Isaac into the elevator.

  


* * *

  


“You'll never believe this!” Scott yelled as he walked back into the bedroom of his and Allison's suite in Paris.

  


Allison was putting her phone away when she turned back to him, “You mean how Lydia and Stiles hooked up?”

  


They'd just turned their phones on after the long flight and were just now hearing the voicemails their friends had left them.

  


“What did Lydia's say?” Scott asked.

  


“That she told Stiles she was in love with him and he shot her down. What did he say?”

  


“Well, he left _that_ out. Basically, he said that he told her a bunch of stuff that he's not sure he really meant, but it felt like the right thing at the time, but now he's not sure.”

  


“So, basically, he's not sure.”

  


Scott rolled his eyes. “Yeah...basically.”

  


“They need to get their shit together,” Allison grumbled.

  


“You don't need to tell me that.”

  


“Well, if I tell them that, they get mad.”

  


“You know what? We have until after New Year's to convince them. That's when Lydia has to go back to New York.”

  


“You mean you want to spend the first half of our honeymoon trying to get our friends back together?”

  


“Well, I-”

  


“Because,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, “I think I just fell in love with you a little more.”

  


“Really?” Scott asked as he put his hands on his new wife's waist.

  


“Really. And I didn't even know that was possible,” she told him before pressing her lips to his.

 

 

* * *

  


After Lydia got her replacement key card, she didn't leave the room again. Not even to go get her bag from the car. She'd called housekeeping to have toiletries brought to the room and just stayed in her robe the whole day, watching TV and ordering room service.

  


The next morning, she put her bridesmaid dress back on and ignored the looks she received as she walked through the lobby.

  


When she got back to her mom's house, she changed into her pajamas. And once her mother got home, she spilled the saga of the past few days with her, and Natalie held her while she cried.

  


“Maybe I should just go home now,” Lydia told her the next day.

  


“Tomorrow's New Year's Eve! Don't you want to stay until then?”

  


“What's the point? Either way I'll be toasting the new year alone. I may as well do it from the comfort of my own apartment.”

  


“Well...if that's what you want to do...”

  


“It is.” Lydia pulled her phone out and went to the airline website to see which flights were available. She was about to confirm a flight later that day when she got an incoming call from Melissa. “What?” she wondered aloud before answering, “Hello?”

  


“Lydia, it's Melissa.”

  


“Yeah,” Lydia chuckled slightly, “I know. What's up?”

  


“Well... the thing is...Kynzi isn't feeling well...some kind of stomach bug.”

  


“Awe that sucks.”

  


“Yeah... it does...Um...the reason I'm calling...” Lydia could hear Melissa take a deep breath on the other end. “She asked for you.”

  


“What?” Lydia wasn't sure if she'd heard the woman correctly.

  


“Yeah...I know..it's weird...I mean...it's not weird that she'd ask for you, because you guys kind of bonded...but it's weird to ask you to come over...right?”

  


“Uh...Melissa...I don't...Is Stiles okay with that?”

  


“Why wouldn't he be?”

  


“I don't know...did you ask him?”

  


“I can't. He's not here.”

  


“Well...can you call him, because I really don't think-”

  


“No, I mean...he's not _here._ He's on a plane to Washington. He had to made a quick trip and he won't be back until tomorrow night.”

  


“Oh.”

  


“Please, Lydia?”

  


Lydia nodded, even though Melissa couldn't see her. “Yeah... okay... I'll be over there in a little bit.”

  


“Thank you, so much!”

  


“No...not a problem.”

  


“What was that about?” Natalie asked when Lydia hung up the phone.

  


“Uh... nothing...” Lydia said as she backed out of the flight change. “Just...Stiles is out of town and Kynzi isn't feeling well and she asked to see me.”

  


“Are you sure that's a good idea?”

  


Lydia shook her head. “No. Stiles will probably kill me, but...if she were my kid and seeing him would make her feel better, I'd let it happen. You know?”

  


“Okay...just...be careful.”

  


“Driving?”

  


Natalie shrugged. “Yeah..that too.”

  


Lydia nodded in understanding.

  


 

* * *

 

  


“Thank you so much for coming!” Melissa greeted at the door. “She's just been so pitiful all day long.” Lydia nodded as Melissa led her back into Kynzi's room. The lights were turned off and she was asleep. “I'll be in the living room if you need me,” Melissa told her.

  


“Thanks,” Lydia nodded as she shrugged her coat off and put it on the chair.

  


“Lydia?” she heard the tiny voice say her name.

  


“Hey, kiddo!” Lydia smiled softly and walked over to the bed and brushed some hair off of Kynzi's face.

  


“You came.”

  


“Of course I did...but you can't go getting sick anymore, okay? I won't be able to come visit you because I live too far away.”

  


Kynzi nodded. “Okay.” Kynzi paused for a moment then asked, “Can we cuddle?”

  


Lydia cracked a smile. “Yes. Of course.” She slipped her shoes off then climbed into the bed. Kynzi closed her eyes and ended up falling asleep as Lydia stroked her hair.

  


* * *

  


Lydia had fallen asleep along with Kynzi and when she woke up, she eased herself out of the bed and went into the living room.

  


“Hey!” Melissa greeted. “Does she seem to be feeling any better?”

  


“She's still asleep. We cuddled.”

  


“You know, Lydia. You'll be such a great mom.”

  


“You think?” Lydia asked. “To be honest...I never really pictured myself as a mother.”

  


“Really? You seem like a natural.”

  


Lydia shrugged. “I think Kynzi's just a really great kid.”

  


“Um..I had another odd request for you...do you think you'd mind watching her tomorrow night? I mean.. unless you have plans, I-”

  


“No..I don't have any plans.” Lydia replied.

  


“Noah and I have a New Year's Eve party to go to, and we were trying to figure out what to do with Kynzi. Stiles was supposed to be here, and he had to go back, but it was such a quick trip that it didn't make sense for him to take her with him...which I guess was good since she got sick and-”

  


“No...I...I can do it,” Lydia nodded.

  


“Really?”

  


“Yeah...just let me know when you want me to be here.”

  


“That sounds great. Thank you so much, Lydia. I'll even pay you.”

  


“Don't worry about it,” Lydia laughed.

  


* * *

  


“How's Paris?” Lydia asked in greeting when she answered Allison's phone call.

  


“It's beautiful. How's Stiles?”

  


“I don't know. I haven't talked to him since he told me he didn't love me anymore. But...Kynzi wasn't feeling well and she asked for me today.”

  


“Really?”

  


“Yeah...and I feel terrible.”

  


“Why? That's great that she loves you!”

  


“Great for who, Allison? As soon as Stiles gets back, he's probably going to murder me for going behind his back with his daughter....which sounded a lot worse than the way I meant it.”

  


“I know, I got it...but what do you mean when he gets back? Where did he go?”

  


“He went to Washington for some reason. He's supposed to be back tomorrow. And Melissa asked me to babysit tomorrow night. And I hate that she's asking for me...I mean...I love it... but I hate it..because I'm probably never going to see her again after tomorrow. And I don't just feel bad for me...I feel bad for her.”

  


“Well, maybe I can have Scott talk to Stiles about it.”

  


“No, don't... I... I don't want to mess things up even more.”

  


“But maybe we can-”

  


“Allison...please... so what did you want to talk about?”

  


“Um... well...that's sort of it.”

  


“You mean, you called me from Paris on your honeymoon, to ask me about Stiles?”

  


“Yeah....”

  


Lydia sighed. “Bye, Allison.”

  


A little while later, Lydia's phone chirped with a new incoming text.

  


_Look at this adorable picture the photographer sent me!_ Allison's text read, along with an image from the day of the wedding. It was when Stiles, Lydia, and Kynzi were exiting.

  


“We do look like a family,” Lydia whispered to herself. A _happy_ family. Lydia's arm was looped through Stiles's and she was leaning across him to speak to Kynzi, and all three were smiling.

  


* * *

  


“Why the fuck would you send that to me?” Stiles demanded of his best friend.

  


Scott sighed as he glanced at Allison. “Because my _wife_ ,” he winked, “told me to.”

  


Allison grabbed the phone out of Scott's hand and put it to her ear, “Honestly, Stiles. It's an adorable picture of you guys.”

  


“Yeah, of my ex who left me at the altar.”

  


“She left you _before_ you got to the altar.”

  


“Just barely,” Stiles scoffed.

  


“Alright, Stiles, I'm going to tell you something. And you have to listen to me because we're family now.” She heard him make a noise, that she could tell came with an eye roll. “Your daughter _loves_ Lydia. And I know things have been rocky the past few days with the two of you-”

  


“Just the past the few days?” he interrupted.

  


Allison ignored him, “-but every time you're together, you're just...so perfect.”

  


“Until one of us starts something.”

  


“But you guys only start stuff because you _think_ that's what you're _supposed_ to do. You two were _made_ for each other, and I know you told Lydia you didn't love her anymore, but...be honest Stiles...you just don't _want_ to love her anymore. You can't deny it, though. She still wants you. You need to give her another chance.”

  


“She hurt me, Allison.”

  


“She thought she was doing the right thing. She hurt herself too. You're never going to find anyone else like her.”

  


Stiles sighed. “I've got to go. I'll talk to you later.”

 

  


* * *

  
  


Lydia answered the door the next day to Melissa and Kynzi.

  


“Lydia!” Kynzi yelped as she hugged the strawberry-blonde.

  


“Hey, Kynz. Feeling better?”

  


“Yes! Lots!”

  


“Good.” She looked back up to Melissa. “Sorry you had to drop her off. My mom had a flat tire this morning and had to use my rental to get to work, but as soon as she gets home, we'll head back to your place.”

  


“It's fine, Lydia! I'm just happy you were willing to watch her.”

  


“Yeah, it's no problem! Have fun!”

  


“Bye, Nana!” Kynzi waved.

  


“Bye!” Melissa told her before walking back to the car.

  


“Okay,” Lydia began, turning to the little girl. “I don't know if there's much fun stuff to do around here. There hasn't been a little girl here in a very long time.”

  


“Can we play makeup?”

  


“No,” Lydia shook her head. “Your dad would kill me,” then quietly, she added, “and I'm not exactly his favorite person right now.”

  


“Why?”

  


“What?”

  


“What happened with you and daddy?”

  


She didn't think that Kynzi would have been able to hear to her. “Oh...it's nothing...we just got into a disagreement.”

  


“What kind of disagreement?”

  


“You know... you ask a lot of questions.”

  


Kynzi nodded. “Daddy says it's charming.”

  


Lydia stifled a laugh. “Come on...let's go back to my room. Maybe we can find a movie to watch.”

  


“Okay!” Lydia led the little girl upstairs and into her old bedroom. “Wow!” Kynzi was in wonder as she looked around the room. “It's so pretty!”

  


“Thank you.”

  


Lydia went to look at her DVDs while Kynzi went to the closet. Lydia heard a gasp a few moments later.

  


“Oh my gosh!”

  


“What?” Lydia turned around as Kynzi came out of the walk in closet.

  


“You have a princess dress! Like the one Aunt Allison wore.”

  


Lydia's eyes widened and she followed Kynzi back into the closet and flipped the light on. Sure enough, her wedding dress was still hanging up, untouched for the last 8 years.

  


“Daddy said you only wear princess dresses at weddings. Did you have a wedding?”

  


“Uh...” Lydia began, but she wasn't sure what to say. How much was too much to say to a four-year-old? She cleared her throat. “No. I didn't have a wedding.”

  


“Then why do you have a princess dress?”

  


“Because...” Lydia suddenly changed the subject, “Hey, speaking of princesses, let's watch The Little Mermaid!”

  


“Okay...but...are you going to answer my question?”

  


“You are so your father's daughter,” she mumbled, then louder, she told her. “It's complicated.”

  


“Why is it complicated?”

  


“You know what? You should ask your dad.”

  


Kynzi shrugged. “Okay.”

  


“Okay...” Lydia said slowly, unsure of what was going through the little girl's mind, since she'd agreed so quickly.

  


Shortly after the movie ended, Natalie came home, and Lydia packed Kynzi up and brought her back to her grandparents' house.

  


They watched more movies and played Candyland (Kynzi won fair and square, and Lydia tried not to take it personally), before it was Kynzi's bedtime.

  


“Alright, time for bed,” Lydia announced. Kynzi got up off the couch and started to run back to her room, but Lydia called her back, “Hey, give me a hug. I may not see you again for awhile. I have to leave tomorrow.”

  


Kynzi hugged Lydia tightly, but Lydia hugged her tighter.

  


“Alright, go brush your teeth. I'll go to your room in a minute to tuck you in.”

  


“Okay.”

  


When Kynzi ran off, Lydia wiped her eyes. Why was she crying? Was she really going to miss her that much?

  


She gave the four-year-old a few minutes to get ready, and then went into her room. She'd already climbed into bed and was eagerly awaiting Lydia's goodnight.

  


Lydia walked over to the bed and leaned over to tuck her in and kiss the little girl's forehead.

  


There were so many things she wanted to say, but she just couldn't do it.

  


“Sweet dreams,” Lydia finally hold her and got up to walk out. “Goodnight, Kynzi.”

  


She flipped the light switch off and began to close the door to a crack, but very softly heard the reply.

  


“Goodnight, Mommy.”

  


Lydia paused for a moment. Part of her wanted to go back and explain that she wasn't her mommy, but she decided that maybe that was a better conversation for Stiles to have with her. She walked away and pretended she didn't hear it.

  


She turned the television on to watch the ball drop, but she couldn't concentrate on anything. She needed to talk to Stiles.

  


* * *

  


“Stiles, man... come on! Why are you being so stubborn!” Scott groaned.

  


“What time is it there?” Stiles asked. “Did you wake up early just to call me?”

  


“Yes! To convince you that you need to talk to Lydia! You need to give her another chance. You need to take a risk!”

  


“Are you done?”

  


Scott sighed. “I guess.”

  


“Good...because... I've been thinking...and I think you're right.”

  


“Really?” Scott's eyes lit up as he turned to face Allison.

  


“I mean... this new year is bringing about a lot of changes... and maybe one of those changes needs to be Lydia. I mean... I haven't really been serious with anyone since Malia died, but the women I've dated...never bonded with Kynzi the way she's bonded with Lydia. It's like...maybe it's fate? You know?”

  


“Yes! Yes, I agree!” Scott practically yelled. “What changed your mind?”

  


Stiles took a deep breath. “My dad called me, and told me that Kynzi got sick yesterday. I mean...the first time I go out of town without her and she gets sick. Of course, I freaked out, but...he said she asked for Lydia and that Lydia came over to the house to see her. And...all of a sudden, I felt _calm_. I wasn't worried about her anymore. It wasn't rational, because I should have felt calm because our parents were with her, but no..it was because Lydia was there. And that's when I realized I've been an ass and that Lydia may actually be the best thing for me...for us.”

  


* * *

 

  


Lydia was chewing on her thumbnail when she heard the keys in the door.

  


“We're nearing midnight on the west coast with only a few minutes to go...” the announcer was saying on the television.

  


When the door opened, Stiles looked up and saw Lydia on the couch.

  


“Lydia?”

  


“I'm sorry,” she apologized and stood up, grabbing her purse and keys. “Melissa asked me to watch Kynzi tonight. I was just doing her a favor. I'll leave...but I wanted to talk to you though.”

  


“Yeah...I wanted to talk to you too.” He hitched his thumb over his shoulder and continued, “We're going to see a lot of fireworks in a couple of minutes, if you want to come out.”

  


Lydia nodded and followed him outside.

  


“Lydia-”

  


“Stiles-”

  


They spoke at the same time. “You go first,” Stiles told her.

  


She took a deep breath before replying, “I'm sorry. I know that I've said it a hundred times, and I have a lot to be sorry for. I'm sorry for leaving you.... I'm sorry for fighting with you... I'm sorry for dropping the L bomb on you,” she rolled her eyes slightly at the memory. “I understand though. I understand that I hurt you, and I understand why you're protective of Kynzi's feelings too.”

  


“Lyd-”

  


“No, let me finish.” Lydia took a deep breath and continued, “She called me 'mommy.'” Stiles eyes widened for a moment. “And don't get me wrong. I don't know what it is about her, but she's a great kid, and before meeting her the thought of ever becoming a mother kind of scared the shit out of me, but being around her has changed my mind completely. Like...if I could handpick a kid to be mine, she'd be it. And that's why...I don't want to hurt her either.”

  


“Ten! Nine! Eight!” people down the street began to countdown.

  


“So, I'm letting you go. I guess I was just looking for closure...a reason that we shouldn't get back together...and I think I've found it.” She sniffed and continued, “I will always love you, Stiles. But I know you're not ready to love me again, and that's okay. I just hope maybe one day we'll be able to be friends again, and maybe...you can still let me talk to Kynzi if she asks for me? But only if she asks.”

  


“Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!”

  


“Happy New Year, Stiles,” Lydia whispered before going up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

  


Then she walked away to the sounds of fireworks exploding overhead, and Stiles watched her drive off.

  


“Maybe I should have gone first,” he mumbled to himself.

  


* * *

  
  


Scott hung up the phone, and turned to look at Allison.

  


“What's that look?” she asked.

  


“She left.”

  


“What? After he told her how he felt?”

  


“He never got a chance to tell her,” Scott sighed. “She left for Kynzi. To protect her.”

  


“Lydia...” Allison groaned.

  


“He's optimistic though. He said maybe fate will bring them back together.”

  


“What's with this sudden thing on fate? There's no such thing as fate.”

  


“Are you sure about that? I mean... he's moving to New York, remember? The place where Lydia lives.”

  


“It's really happening?”

  


“He closed on the house yesterday morning. That's why he was in Washington.”

  


“Alright,” Allison shrugged. “I guess I won't rule fate out just yet.”

  


* * *

  


“Daddy?” Kynzi asked Stiles a week or so later while they were unpacking boxes.

  


“Yes, baby girl?”

  


“Why does Lydia have a princess dress?”

  


“What?”

  


“Nana and Papa took me to Lydia's house, and she had a princess dress in her closet. Like the one Aunt Allison wore at the wedding.”

  


“Oh...well did you ask Lydia?”

  


Kynzi nodded. “She said it was complicated and to ask you.”

  


“Of course she did,” Stiles sighed to himself. “Well...Lydia was going to have a wedding, but she moved away the day before.”

  


“Why?”

  


“Well...because she thought it was the right thing to do.”

  


“Was it?”

  


Stiles shrugged. “I don't know...if she hadn't moved away, you never would have been born.”

  


“Really?!”

  


“Really.”

  


“Well...then yes. It was right.” Stiles nodded, and Kynzi took a beat before saying, “Daddy?”

  


“Yes, sweetheart?”

  


“Were _you_ going to marry Lydia?”

  


“Why would you think that?”

  


Kynzi sheepishly held out a picture and Stiles took it from his daughter. It was one of his and Lydia's 'Save-the-Dates' that he didn't even remember packing away.

  


It wasn't that Kynzi could read and understand what a 'Save-the-Date' was, but there was a collage of pictures of the two of them together, several of which included them kissing. It wasn't difficult for the four-year-old to discern.

  


Stiles sighed. “Yes.”

  


“You were?!”

  


Stiles nodded. “But...then she moved away, and I met your mom and we had you.”

  


Kynzi was quiet again for a moment, “Daddy?”

  


“Yes, princess?” He was beginning to regret ever telling her that her inquisitive nature was charming.

  


“Do you still want to marry Lydia?”

  


“It's complicated,” Stiles told her gently. Kynzi huffed. “Hey, come here.” He grabbed her hand and led her over to the couch and sat her down next to him. “I still _love_ Lydia.” The words shocked him as he spoke them out loud. “But, marrying someone and loving someone are two different things. I know it may be hard to understand, but-”

  


“You said that Aunt Allison and Uncle Scott were getting married _because_ they loved each other...so... if you love Lydia...does that mean you can't marry her because she doesn't love you too?”

  


“No..she...” Stiles sighed. “She does love me. She told me she did.”

  


“Then what's wrong?”

  


“I...” He tried to answer, but he honestly couldn't think of a legitimate reason. “I don't know.”

  


“You said that when you marry someone, it means you love them and you want them to be a part of your family.”

  


“Yes... I did say that.”

  


“So... do you not want Lydia to be a part of our family?”

  


Stiles watched his daughter closely for a moment, and remembered what Lydia had told him about what Kynzi had called her.

  


“I think the real question is...do _you_ _want_ Lydia to be a part of our family?”

  


Kynzi looked away and nodded.

  


Stiles took a deep breath as he hugged his daughter. He didn't see his phone light up on the table behind them.

  


 

* * *

 

  


“Hey, Stiles... It's Lydia...again. This is the …. _seventh_...voicemail I've left, and I really need you to call me back. Bye.” Lydia ended the call, and looked back at the paperwork her doctor had given her.

  


_Pregnancy test results: Positive._

  


She hadn't told anyone yet. She wanted to tell Stiles first, but he must have still been pissed at her. The only problem was if she told Allison, then Allison would tell Scott, and then if Scott didn't tell Stiles directly, he would tell his mother or the sheriff, and then _they_ would tell Stiles.

  


And she wanted him to hear it directly from her. She had a whole speech planned, about how she'd want him to be involved, but if he didn't want to that was okay. She had remembered their conversation at the wedding reception about how strong he was for raising Kynzi on his own and how she didn't think she could do it, but he'd inspired her and if he didn't want anything to do with them, she was prepared to do it alone.

  


“Although,” she said out loud as she rubbed her non-existent belly. “We may not have a choice in the matter if your daddy doesn't answer his fucking phone.”

  


* * *

  
  


“How are you? How's work?” Allison asked Lydia.

  


“It's okay. Hey... have you spoken to Stiles recently? I've been trying to get a hold of him for a nearly a month and a half. At first I just thought he was ignoring me, but I've left him like 30 voicemails and he hasn't called me back.”

  


“Thirty? My God! What's so important? Do you have chlamydia or something? Oh my god! Did you give Stiles chlamydia?”

  


“No! I didn't give him chlamydia...he...sort of gave _me_ something.”

  


“Seriously? I didn't think he'd been with anyone since...wait...hold on...you're not....”

  


“Don't try to make any guesses, just...tell me...have you heard from him?”

  


“Uh...once I think. He's been really busy with the move.”

  


“Move?”

  


“Yeah...he moved to New York. He didn't tell you?”

  


“I just told you I've been trying to get a hold of him for a month and a half. When the hell would he have had time to tell me he moved?”

  


“I thought maybe before you left Beacon Hills. Obviously not. I'll let him know to call you, if I talk to him. And you better tell me what's going on, because if it's what I think it is-”

  


“Then you would be the next one to know.”

  


 

* * *

 

  


It was a couple of days later when Lydia's phone began to ring and 'Stiles' popped up on her screen. She suddenly felt nauseous and she wasn't sure if it was the nerves or the morning sickness she'd been experiencing.

  


“Where the _hell_ have you been?!” she answered.

  


“Hello to you too.”

  


“I've left you 32 voicemails!”

  


“I know. I'm so sorry. I honestly meant to call you back, but every time I thought about it, I was in the middle of something, or it was really late and I didn't want to wake you up.”

  


“A simple text would have been nice, just so I would know you weren't dead in a ditch somewhere.”

  


“Oh...not so fun when it's your phone calls that aren't being answered?”

  


“Are you fucking kidding me right now?! What? Were you trying to teach me a fucking lesson?”

  


“No...sorry... bad joke... Um...Allison said she told you I live in New York now.”

  


“Yeah...” Lydia sighed. “That would have been nice to know.”

  


“Sorry. I was going to tell you and...I forgot. But um... look...since we're not too far away from each other anymore, maybe we can talk in person? Over dinner maybe? Tonight?”

  


“Uhh...I know you haven't had a girlfriend in awhile, so maybe you forgot, but it's Valentine's Day. We're never going to find a place to eat.”

  


“Except... I already have a reservation. I made one two weeks ago.”

  


“What?”

  


“Like I said... I've _really_ been meaning to call you back. I just... didn't want to ask you to Valentine's Day dinner over a text message... you know? Oh! Unless...Unless you ...you have plans already...”

  


“No! I...I don't have plans.”

  


“Good...because I've already got a babysitter for Kynzi.”

  


“This reservation...it's not Asian cuisine, is it? Because I got sick after eating some Chinese food the other day, and I just can't stand the smell of soy sauce right now.”

  


“Uh..no...it's Italian.”

  


“Oh! Perfect! Um...am I meeting you there, or...”

  


“Text me your address. I'll pick you up.”

  


* * *

  


At 6:00, Lydia was putting the finishing touches on her makeup, when she heard the knock on her door.

  


That wave of nausea came back, but this time she was pretty sure it was nerves.

  


Lydia placed a hand on her still-flat stomach. “Be good, we're about to see your dad, and tell him about you, so...no funny business. Got it?” She took a deep breath and went to the door.

  


They stared at each other for a moment before Stiles finally broke the silence.

  


“Hey.”

  


“Hey,” Lydia smiled back.

  


“You look....beautiful.”

  


It was at that exact moment that her bladder decided it needed to be relieved. Lydia groaned, and muttered, “Really?”

  


“What? Did I...did I say something, wrong?”

  


“No!” Lydia told him quickly. “No...Thank you. You look really nice too, um.. I just have to pee. Come inside, I'll be right out.” She ran to the bathroom, muttering under her breath, “What did I say about no funny business, huh?”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

When they walked outside, Lydia saw the lit up sign in the car window.

  


“You picked me up...in an _Uber_?”

  


“Hey, have you tried driving in the city? I, for one, do not have the patience for it.”

  


Lydia chuckled and Stiles opened the door for her. She slid all the way in and he followed after her.

  


They stayed quiet during the car ride. When they finally got there and got out of the car, Lydia chuckled. “You know, we could have walked here.”

  


“Really?”

  


“Yeah, it's only a couple of blocks over from my place. A car just has to go around the entire world because of all the one-way streets.”

  


“Oh...well good to know. Maybe we can walk back to your place after dinner.”

  


Lydia nodded. “Yeah... maybe.” That is...if he didn't leave in the middle of the dinner when she finally told him what she wanted to say. “Is this a date?” Lydia asked as she took her jacket off and placed it on the back of her chair.

  


“Do we have to decide right now?”

  


“I just need to know if I'm paying or if you are,” she smirked and sat down at the table.

  


Stiles laughed. “I picked the restaurant. I'll pay.”

  


“So..this is a friend date...right?”

  


He gave her a small shrug. “If that's what you want it to be.”

  


“Is that what _you_ want it to be?”

  


Stiles didn't have time to answer before the waiter came over.

  


“What can I get you to drink?”

  


“Uh, bourbon. On the rocks,” Stiles told him.

  


“And for the lady?”

  


“Water's fine. Thanks.”

  


“Come on,” Stiles said once the waiter was gone. “I told you I was paying. You could have ordered the most expensive bottle of wine.”

  


Lydia shook her head. “I'm cutting out alcohol for a while.”

  


“Why? Upset about poor life decisions made while under the influence.”

  


“You could say that,” she mumbled.

  


“Okay... these attempts at jokes have really been falling flat.”

  


Lydia shook her head, “Sorry.”

  


“Look... Honestly, Lydia. I'm really over it. Like all of it.”

  


“You're over it?”

  


“Yes, and I know what you're going to say. That I said I was over it before and then we got into a fight, but...you got your closure...and I got mine. It took Kynzi to make me realize how stupid I was being.”

  


“Wait...what? I think I'm confused.”

  


“Here's your water, my dear,” the waiter said as he came back and placed the water next to Lydia. “I brought you one as well, until I can get your bourbon from the bar,” he told Stiles.

  


“Thank you.”

  


“Do we need a few more minutes on the menu?”

  


“Yes please.” Lydia told him.

  


“Perfect. I'll be back soon.”

  


“Okay,” Lydia began once the waiter was gone. “What were you saying?”

  


“Kynzi...she made me realize that I...I lied to you.”

  


“When?”

  


Stiles took a deep breath. “When I told you I didn't love you.”

  


Lydia's brain was being overloaded with information.“I'm sorry..what?”

  


“I was just so freaked out by everything that had happened between us that night and I said some things I didn't mean. When I came back on New Year's Eve, I was going to tell you about New York and that I wanted to give us a shot because of how much Kynzi loves you. Which...by the way she still talks about you all the-”

  


“Stiles, I'm pregnant.”

  


“-time.” He blinked. Lydia's eyes were wide. That was not how she was planning on doing that, but she was thinking about so much, keeping so much inside...she just needed to voice _something_. She didn't mean for it to be that. “What?”

  


Lydia finally released the huge breath she was holding. Well, it was out now. “I'm pregnant. That's what I've been trying to tell you. I found out about a week after I got back here.”

  


“Um...okay...” He looked down, trying to get his thoughts in order. He shook his head in an attempt to make it clear, “Uh...who's the father?”

  


“What? Are you thick? It's you, dumbass! Why the hell else would I be calling you every day?” she snapped.

  


The waiter came back with Stiles's drink at that moment. “Here you are, Sir.” As soon as he set it down, Stiles immediately grabbed it.

  


“He's going to need another one of those,” Lydia told the waiter when he looked back at her. “And we're going to need a little bit more time with the menu.”

  


The waiter looked over to see Stiles's nearly empty glass and nodded before walking off.

  


“You're really pregnant?”

  


Lydia nodded. “Yeah... I really am.” Stiles took a deep breath and sat back in his chair. “Don't worry...it took me by surprise too. And I just... I keep thinking, if you never had Kynzi...if I'd never met her... I just...I don't think we'd be having this conversation.” She took a deep breath, “And after seeing what you did with Kynzi...if I....if I have to... if you don't want to be involved I-”

  


“What? Are you kidding me?” Stiles reached across the table and took Lydia's hand in his. “Lydia, of course I want to be involved...I mean...it's a baby...it's _our..._ baby...” he shook his head, “Sorry...I'm just... still trying to wrap my head around it.”

  


“It's fine... take your time.” Lydia nodded, feeling a lot lighter.

  


“I mean... we have a lot to figure out...” he began again after a brief pause, “...like... where are we going to live?” His eyes widened, “And how are we going to explain this to Kynzi?”

  


“Wait... _we_?”

  


“Well, I mean, I guess you don't have to help me with that but she's bound to ask you questions whether you're there or not.”

  


“Yeah...I know...” Lydia recalled the wedding dress conversation. “But I mean... you said where _we're_ going to live.”

  


“Have you decided-”

  


“We're still going to need a few more minutes, thanks!” Lydia snapped quickly and smiled brightly at the waiter as he set Stiles's new drink down. Stiles was still holding her hand, couldn't the man see they were in the middle of a very important conversation?

  


“I did say _we_...didn't I?”

  


“Yeah, you did.”

  


“What I mean is...Okay... you know what? I'm going to be honest.”

  


“Well, I wish you would.”

  


“I don't just want to be involved because there's a baby to think about now... I want to be involved for _you_.” He sighed. “That's why I asked you out tonight. I was denying how I felt for so long, because I was trying to protect myself and Kynzi, but...a couple of weeks ago..she asked me if I still wanted to marry you, you know...after you left it up to me to explain your wedding dress...”

  


“Sorry, about that...”

  
  
He chuckled, “It's fine.” He paused a moment to gather his thoughts. “When she asked me...I...I couldn't think of reason why I shouldn't.” He moved his chair closer to her and continued. “Every reason I had before...it didn't make sense anymore. I told her once, and she reminded me, that you marry someone because you love them and you want them to be a part of your family. And Lydia...I do love you...and I do want you to be a part of our family...we both do. You'd be a great mother to Kynzi and I know you're going to be a great mom to this new baby too...Lydia, I... I still want to marry you.”

  


Lydia gave him a watery smile, and nodded. “I still want to marry you too.” Stiles smiled and leaned forward, capturing her lips with his. Her hands went to his face to pull him closer, and his went to her hair.

  


They heard someone clear their throat and Lydia pulled away. Anger and annoyance evident in her voice, and it rose a couple of octaves as she snapped, “We're gonna need a few more minutes!”

  


“I just,” the waiter began apologetically, “wanted to offer you a bottle of wine. On the house.”

  


Lydia's bottom lip began to quiver. “That's very thoughtful of you... but unfortunately,” her voice getting squeaky and she sniffed.

  


“Oh no...” Stiles mumbled.

  


“I can't have any...Now...give us a minute!”

  


The waiter walked away, and Stiles took a few moments while Lydia got herself together.

  


“Are you okay?” he asked gently.

  


“Yeah, I'm fine...sorry...”she chuckled lightly.

  


“It's fine.”

  


“Wait...” she began after a moment. “Did we just get _engaged_? And on _Valentine's Day_? How cliché is _that_?”

  


“Ehh,” Stiles waved a hand in front of his face. “We got engaged a long time ago, we just put it on hold for awhile.”

  


“Do I still get a ring?” she asked, almost innocently.

  


He chuckled before answering, “I'll get you a ring.”

  


* * *

  


**314 Days Later...an Epilogue**

  


“Everyone say 'Christmas!'” Stiles said as he took a picture of his three girls on the couch. Stiles and Lydia had gotten married in June, (yes, the June wedding still happened, just a few years late).

  


“Christmas!” Lydia and Kynzi cheered. Nykolette (or Kolette for short), the newest member of the brood, just laid in Lydia's arms looking completely confused (probably wondering why Daddy was wearing a goofy red hat on his head).

  


“Okay, Kynzi,” Stiles said as he went to take the infant away from Lydia. “Do you want to give Mommy her Christmas present from you?”

  


Stiles and Lydia wanted to take their new relationship as slow as possible with Kynzi. They started off by having dinners together, and made it clear that they were dating. When Lydia hit her second trimester, they told Kynzi she was going to be a big sister. They told her that they may refer to Lydia as 'Mommy' for the new baby, and if she wanted to, Kynzi could call her Mommy too. And they didn't have to tell her twice. She had taken to calling Lydia 'Mommy' almost immediately.

  


When they told Kynzi they were going to get married, she was over the moon at reprising her flower girl duties.

  


“Here you go,” Kynzi handed Lydia the wrapped box.

  


“Hmm..I wonder what this is,” Lydia said as she took the wrapping paper off of the box. When she took the lid off, she froze. “Wait...” Lydia looked up at Kynzi then over to Stiles. “What is this?”

  


“They're papers so that you can adopt me,” Kynzi told her.

  


Lydia felt tears begin to form and she looked back at Stiles.

  


“Kynzi asked me about it right after Kolette was born. We talked about how Malia is her birth mom and that'll never change, but you're the only mother she's ever known... hopefully the only one she'll _ever_ know...and she wanted to make it official.”

  


“Do you want to adopt me?” Kynzi asked.

  


Lydia nodded. “Come here.” Kynzi walked over to give Lydia a hug, as the strawberry-blonde felt tears falling down her face. “I love you so much. So, yes. Of course I want to adopt you. More than you could ever know.”

  


  


 


End file.
